Glenn Hurowitz, WILD PAC

Glenn Hurowitz is the associate director of WILD PAC, a political action committee that works to elect leaders at all levels of government who will champion protection of America's wilderness and public lands.

Presidents and congress members aren't the only people who decide the fate of our public lands. Governors, state legislators, and local officials are also key players in the destiny of our lands. Not only do they directly control the significant quantities of land owned by state governments, they also have tremendous influence over the federal government's decisions about wilderness protection. The fate of most wilderness bills is decided by the support (or lack thereof) of that state's congressional delegation. When a congressional delegation unanimously supports designation of a critical area in the state as wilderness, it's very likely to pass and be signed by the president -- no matter who the president is. When the congressional delegation opposes wilderness designation, support among the rest of Congress has to be extremely strong to pass a bill.

As a result, state politics can play an extremely important role. Congress looks to state and local elected officials when seeking input on decisions affecting those states. And even the Bush administration is hesitant (though by no means unwilling) to push drilling, mining, or logging against the wishes of state leaders. As a result, WILD PAC will be focusing half of our efforts and resources on electing state and local leaders across the country who will champion wilderness protection in their states.

That's why I've been calling state conservation leaders in the last few days looking for opportunities to support pro-wilderness champions in races for state and local office. That work has delivered tremendous results in the past. In the 2002 elections, one of WILD PAC's biggest victories was electing Bill Richardson (D) as governor of New Mexico. We endorsed Richardson and organized New Mexico's conservation community to create a coalition called "Conservationists for Bill Richardson," bringing local volunteers into the Richardson campaign. We focused our efforts on highlighting the difference between Richardson's position and that of his opponent on an important state wilderness issue: whether to protect Otero Mesa or open it up to drilling.

Otero Mesa is the largest intact segment of Chihuahuan desert grassland in North America, and the Bush administration had targeted it for destructive oil drilling. We ran a full page ad in one of the state's biggest newspapers in the final weeks of the race, pointing out the clear differences between the candidates on this issue. With the help from WILD PAC, the issue of whether to drill in Otero Mesa was discussed in every public debate (including a nationally televised one) between the candidates. Now that he's in office, Richardson has enthusiastically lived up to his promises and championed protection of Otero Mesa, going so far as to write Interior Secretary Gale Norton to urge her to stop efforts to exploit the mesa. He even urged the Interior Department to recommend designating the land as wilderness. Richardson hasn't confined his efforts to New Mexico: He promises to be a strong voice for wilderness within the Western Governors' Association as well.

With only 3 percent of land in the lower 48 states protected as wilderness and the Bush administration aggressively pushing plans to exploit many unprotected wild lands, WILD PAC will be working hard to elect state and local officials like Richardson who will champion protection of America's endangered public lands.