The Red Rocks Wilderness Act, a bill long championed by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance will get a congressional hearing after heavy campaigning for 20 years. The bill was first introduced in 1989 and has been reintroduced every year since with many co-sponsors although mostly without support from Utah House and Senate members. The bill seeks to designate 9.4 million acres of federal BLM land in Utah as wilderness, protecting it against future mining or development. It is sponsored by Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., who has been a long time proponent of the bill. Unfortunately the bill is long shot since no Utah senators or house members support the bill. Many of the other large national environmental groups such as Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society, Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense Council also support the bill. BLM land in general seems to have much less land designated as wilderness compared to Forest Service land, and in Utah this is especially true since much of this land has oil/gas extraction potential. Despite the odds its still recommended that you contact Representatives Chafetz, Matheson, and Bishop to ask for their support.