Thanks Jay!
I agree with your points (all of them). It is a complex issue, and I'm not entirely sure that the are should be designated a Wilderness.
However, the hamfisted (great word, BTW) that the Shrubbies want to take to it allows for neither the correct amount of thought that a complex issue like this deserves (To Bush, complex == bad; must make complex == simple so it can be easily dealt away), nor for any compromise between the two (heavily polarized) camps.
So why aren't you running Interior? (You're clearly more qualified than any of the hamhocks currently occupying the posts there.)