United States
Department of
Agriculture
Forest
Service
Rocky
Mountain
Region
740 Simms Street
Golden, CO 80401
Voice: 303-275-5350
TDD: 303-275-5367
File Code: 2320/1520/1510
Date: June 10, 2009
Honorable Mark Udall
Dirksen Senate Office Building
Suite SD-B40 E
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Honorable Udall:
Please accept this revised 2009 Wilderness Legislative Guidebook as a desk-guide reference to
assist you, your staff and your constituents to better understand congressionally designated
wilderness and the benefits the National Wilderness Preservation System provides the American
people. This Guidebook highlights the current congressional leadership in the Rocky Mountain
Region. It is a revised version of the Guidebook developed in April 2001 and updated in 2003.
This new version provides you with the current listing of the congressional delegation in
Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming and Kansas. Kansas is the only state in Rocky
Mountain Regional without designated wilderness.
This Guidebook is designed to inform congressional staffers and public affairs specialists about
the laws, regulations, and policy related to the National Wilderness Preservation System. It is
meant to be a desk-guide for quick reference and to provide additional information at your
finger-tips. Use the Guidebook as a resource to help inform and educate community leaders,
partners and wilderness users about the enduring resource of wilderness.
A new section has been added to focus on wilderness and climate change. This emerging topic
will continue to consume our best talents and efforts in the years to come. Congressionally
designated wilderness will play a significant role in gauging how species adapt to climate
change. Undisturbed landscapes, such as wilderness, will help us study the dynamics of physical
and biological processes and attributes and wilderness will function as a base datum and which
to research human-created disturbances.
Please contact Steve Sherwood, Director at 303-275-5135, if you need more information about
the Guidebook.
Sincerely,
/s/ Maribeth Gustafson
RICK D. CABLES
Regional Forester
(for)
Enclosure
cc: Stephen Sherwood, Ralph Swain
Caring for the Land and Serving People
Printed on Recycled Paper