Field hearings must be held to save this region. Opposition to the Escalante Wilderness comes from cattlemen, county commissioners, road builders, the governor's office, and even the BLM. Support for the field hearings is needed and can be given by writing to members of the House Subcommittee on Parks and Recreation, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., 20515. THE BAD GUYS WIN A ROUND The foremost conservationist in the country, Secretary of the Interior Rogers Morton (bring back Wally) and eleven electric and coal companies have succeeded in getting a conservationists suit against the southwestern power plants transferred from Washington, D.C. to impartial Arizona. The Sierra Club and the Jicarilla Apache Tribe and individual Indians had filed suit in June seeking a regional environmental impact statement on the operation of the coal-fired thermal power plants in the are. The suit also asks for a moratorium on the granting of federal permits and licenses for the power projects until the regional impact statement is prepared. AND SOME GOOD NEWS The Senate has passed and sent to the House bills establishing the Pine Mountain and Sycamore Canyon Wildernesses in Arizona. WOULD YOU BELIEVE MORE The District Court in Washington, D.C. has rejected the government's motion to dismiss the Sierra Club's suit against the proposed Palmdale Intercontinental Smogand-noisemaker. The suit asserts that the Department of Transportation embarked on the project without making an adequate environmental impact study, as required under the National Environmental Policy Act. UTAH PARKS REVISITED The Interior Committee has favorably reported on the bills for the establishment of Arches and Capitol Reef National Parks and the enlargement of Canyonlands National Park thus clearing them for floor action. The Arches and Capitol Reef measures were amended to reduce permitted grazing in some areas from 25 to 10 years, and a three year deadline was placed on completion of wilderness area studies. FROM THE TRAILBLISTER OF THE LAS VEGAS GROUP The desert pupfish are on the edge of extinction. Their only hope for continued life lies in S. 2141, a Senate bill which would establish Desert Pupfish National Monument. The desert pupfish are tiny fish which have survived in isolated springs in the desert areas around the Armagosa River and Ash Meadows for 20,000 years. Although there are several threats to the survival of the pupfish, the most severe is the well pumping which is presently overdrafting the underground water supply and causing the springs to dry up. The water level in Devil's Hole is dropping at the rate of half a foot a month. S. 2141, introduced by Senators Cranston, Tunney, Harris, and Nelson would protect the desert pupfish by giving protection to the springs and aquifers which supply them. Although both California senators have sponsored this bill, similar support from Nevada has been lacking. Senators Bible and Cannon have refused to support the bill. Without Bible support the bill may be in trouble. Also send letters to the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. Ask that your letters be made part of the hearing record on S. 2141. CABEZA PRIETA WILDERNESS One of America's few large remaining expanses of undisturbed desert and mountain country is in the impressive Cabeza Prieta Game Range of southwestern Arizona. Third largest of our national wildlife refuges outside Alaska, Cabeza Prieta was established in 1939 by President Roosevelt to protect desert bighorn sheep.

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