More about the Little Missouri Badlands: Get Involved! Wilderness Notebooks: Lewis and Clark, in their own words

Wilderness protection for all roadless areas in the Badlands is essential to alleviate the threats that face this unique area.

Wildlife habitat and recreation areas continue to be degraded by oil and gas development. When public comment was solicited on a new management plan for the area, nearly 47,000 comment supported the Sierra Club's call for better management and stronger protections.

The good news is that the new management plan proposed to shift management in a direction favoring wildlife and recreation. The bad news is that the livestock industry has threatened to sue the U.S. Forest Service over the plan when the agency issues its final decision.

What you can do: To get on an email activist listserv that provides updates and action alerts on the Little Missouri Badlands, contact Wayde Schafer at wayde.schafer@sierraclub.org, or call (701) 530-9288.

Photo: Winter in the North Dakota badlands, courtesy NPS.