Jamie Lennox, Alliance for the Wild Rockies

Jamie Lennox is membership coordinator for the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and a board member of the Wild Rockies Legislative Action Fund. He previously worked for the Missoula Independent, a weekly newspaper. He lives in Missoula, Mont.

This week, we at the Alliance for the Wild Rockies have finished putting together the schedule of events for our Wild Rockies Rendezvous, and we're excitedly looking forward to three days of inspiration, education, and good times. The event will be held September 17-19 at Montana Snowbowl, 20 minutes from downtown Missoula. The rendezvous will focus on connecting people with wildlife and wildlands. Panel discussions and workshops will be augmented by live bluegrass music from the Cold Mountain Rhythm Band.

This will be my 10th rendezvous. Each year, I leave with a renewed sense of purpose and determination to help protect the Wild Northern Rockies, a national treasure.






Last year's rendezvous marked the 10-year anniversary of AWR, which was formed in 1988 to meet the challenge of saving the northern Rockies from rampant deforestation and habitat destruction. In 1988, then-Sen. John Melcher (D-Mont.) pushed through Congress a bad wilderness bill that would have released millions of acres of roadless lands in the region to roadbuilding, logging, and mining. Ironically, we have Ronald Reagan to thank for stopping the legislation in its tracks. He vetoed it because he thought it contained too much wilderness, plus he was a buddy of Melcher's Republican opponent Conrad Burns, who beat Melcher in the election that year.

The founders of AWR thought it was time for a stronger voice to speak on behalf of wildlife, which doesn't abide by arbitrary political boundaries. State wilderness bills lacked ecosystem protection, so AWR become the first group in the area to promote a comprehensive bioregional approach to saving public wildlands.

AWR has been quite successful in its work. In the '80s, more than 10 billion board feet of timber per year were logged from our national forests. Last year, thanks in part to our efforts, that number was down to a little more than 3 billion. As of today, the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act, one of AWR's top priorities, has 69 congressional sponsors.

More and more people are coming to understand the role of ecosystem protection in improving our quality of life. It'll be good to connect with many of them at the Wild Rockies Rendezvous. Hope to see you there.