National Public Lands Day, celebrating places like Montana`s Lewis and Clark National Forest -- one of the last bastions for the wolverines in the Lower 48 United States -- and Bridger-Teton National Forest -- home of North America`s fastest land mammal, the pronghorn.
Unfortunately, special wild places like these -- and the wolverines, pronghorns and other wildlife that need them to survive -- are increasingly threatened by largely unchecked development, poorly planned energy exploration and production and climate change.
The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administer 449 million acres of land. Some of the wildest places left in the U.S. are tucked away in these national forests, grasslands and BLM lands -- and they`re owned by you, the American taxpayer.
The Forest Service and the BLM are supposed to balance the needs of development interests with those of the millions of hikers, anglers, campers, wildlife enthusiasts and other Americans who use these lands.
But for too long, and especially over the past eight years, these agencies have tilted the balance in favor of development interests " offering oil and gas companies, loggers, mining interests and developers increasingly unfettered access to exploit the resources found on our public lands.
Nearly 3,000 wildlife species and 10,000 plant species inhabit the lands overseen by the National Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Approximately 3,400 towns and cities depend on national forest watersheds for their public water supplies. And millions of Americans make use of these lands for camping, backcountry hiking, kayaking, rafting and canoeing, angling, wildlife viewing and other outdoor activities.
With so much at stake, isn`t it time to manage these lands more responsibly?
Sandra Purohit Associate, Government Relations Defenders of Wildlife
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Unfortunately, special wild places like these -- and the wolverines, pronghorns and other wildlife that need them to survive -- are increasingly threatened by largely unchecked development, poorly planned energy exploration and production and climate change. 
