<div dir="ltr">For Release: Wednesday, October 22, 2025<div><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-1b6f1d3a-7fff-9833-d73e-1b6748509733"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:center;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-weight:400;text-align:start"><br></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:center;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><font size="4">Senator Mike Lee\u2019s Border Bill guts the Wilderness Act, potentially impacting all Wilderness areas in the U.S.</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="4"><br></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:center;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><font size="4">Bill would open entire Wilderness System to road construction, motor vehicles, aircraft landings, and deployment of tactical infrastructure and technology, including video surveillance systems and motion sensors</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br></p></span></font><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(8,8,9);vertical-align:baseline"><b>For more information:</b></span><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(8,8,9);vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">George Nickas, Wilderness Watch, </span><a href="mailto:gnickas@wildernesswatch.org" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">gnickas@wildernesswatch.org</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">, 406-531-2355
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MISSOULA, MONTANA\u2014Anti-public lands and anti-Wilderness crusader, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), has introduced a bill that guts the Wilderness Act, potentially allowing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to build roads, land aircraft, and install surveillance technology across America\u2019s entire 112 million-acre National Wilderness Preservation System.</span><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Specifically, Senator Lee\u2019s so-called \u201c</span><a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2967" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">Border Lands Conservation Act</span></a><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">\u201d would allow DHS to do the following in Wilderness areas across the entire country:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br></p><ul style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Construct and maintain roads and physical barriers.</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Deploy tactical infrastructure and technology in Wilderness, including observation points, remote video surveillance systems, motion sensors, vehicle barriers, fences, roads, bridges, drainages, and detection devices.</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Use </span><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">motor vehicles, motorboats, and motorized equipment.</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Use aircraft, including landings and takeoffs.</span></p></li></ul><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">
While early reporting on Senator Lee\u2019s bill has focused on the bill applying to federal public lands, including Wilderness areas, within 100 miles of the northern borders and southern border, an analysis of the bill by Wilderness Watch has revealed that Lee\u2019s bill could potentially impact America\u2019s entire </span><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> 112 million-acre </span><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">National Wilderness Preservation System.</span><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">\u201cWhile some of the provisions of Senator Lee\u2019s bill </span><span style="color:rgb(68,71,70);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">appear to limit its reach to border areas,</span><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> the bill\u2019s provisions that amend the 1964 Wilderness Act apply to every Wilderness in the nation,\u201d said George Nickas, Wilderness Watch\u2019s executive director. \u201cDHS is spread across the entire U.S., and it\u2019s not hard to imagine a Homeland Security Secretary concocting a border security reason to send bulldozers or aircraft or install </span><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">remote video surveillance systems </span><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">in any Wilderness in the National Wilderness Preservation System if Lee\u2019s bill becomes law.\u201d</span><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Even if Senator Lee\u2019s bill only applied to public lands and Wilderness closer to the northern and southern border, the impact to Wilderness and its wildlife would be significant. </span><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">According to a </span><a href="https://wildernesswatch.org/pdf/Wilderness_Watch_Northern_Border_Paper.pdf" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">previous analysis prepared by Wilderness Watch</span></a><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">, gutting the Wilderness Act along just the U.S. borders with Canada could </span><span style="color:rgb(71,71,71);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">damage </span><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">73 Wilderness areas across 12 states, affecting more than 32 million acres of the National Wilderness Preservation System. The U.S. border with Canada is </span><span style="color:rgb(71,71,71);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">5,525 miles-long, including a 1,538 mile-long border between Alaska and Canada. </span><span style="color:rgb(71,71,71);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><span style="color:rgb(71,71,71);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><span style="color:rgb(68,71,70);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">The bill also appears to open Wilderness to logging, chaining, brushing, and similar efforts to prioritize "fuels management" and create fuel breaks along the border and the new "navigable roads" that could be constructed in these areas.</span><span style="color:rgb(68,71,70);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br><br></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(71,71,71);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Senator Mike Lee\u2019s anti-public lands and anti-Wilderness views and policy initiatives are well known. Earlier this year, Senator Lee</span><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> attempted to sell off over three million acres of America\u2019s public lands heritage as part of </span><span style="color:rgb(68,71,70);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">legislation that passed this summer.</span><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> Senator Lee has previously introduced legislation </span><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">to weaken the Wilderness Act and allow mountain bikes, strollers, and game carts on every piece of land protected by the National Wilderness Preservation System. Senator Lee </span><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">fought to get permanent, fixed anchor climbing gear and installations allowed in Wilderness, and he\u2019s attempting to open America's national parks to off-road vehicles.</span><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br><br></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">\u201cSenator Lee is using the excuse of homeland security to wage his own war against America\u2019s most treasured public lands, including Wilderness,\u201d added Nickas. \u201cHe\u2019s aimed a scud missile at our natural heritage, from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to Big Bend National Park in Texas and America\u2019s entire National Wilderness Preservation System. His colleagues in the Senate need to shoot this bill down.\u201d</span><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">America\u2019s </span><a href="https://umontana.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=a415bca07f0a4bee9f0e894b0db5c3b6" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">National Wilderness Preservation System</span></a><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> covers 112 million acres, including over 800 Wilderness areas in 44 states and Puerto Rico. </span><a href="https://wildernesswatch.org/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">Wilderness Watch</span></a><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> is the leading national organization whose sole focus is the preservation and proper stewardship of lands and rivers included in the National Wilderness Preservation System.</span><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br><br></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:center;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(8,8,9);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"># # # </span></p></span></font></div><div><br></div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><font face="arial, sans-serif">Matthew Koehler<br>Media Director<br>Wilderness Watch<br></font><div><font face="arial, sans-serif">406-396-0321</font></div><div><a href="http://www.wildernesswatch.org/" target="_blank"><font face="arial, sans-serif">www.WildernessWatch.org</font></a></div></div></div></div>