Created by the 1964 Wilderness Act, the National Wilderness Preservation System, which now comprises more than 104 million acres from Alaska to Florida, allows citizens to develop proposals and then submit them to their representatives, rather than waiting for land management agencies to act. The goal of the Act is to protect dwindling wilderness from development.
According to the Loma Prieta Sierra Club, S. 2535 began with a campaign in 1997 called "Wildlands 2000." This campaign evolved into the California Wild Heritage Campaign (www.californiawild.org), which identified over 7 million acres of Californian land sought for preservation. Boxer reports that during the last 20 years, 675,000 acres of unprotected wilderness - approximately the size of Yosemite National Park - have lost their wilderness character due to activities such as logging and mining.
Congress defined wilderness in 1964 as an area of federal land at least 5,000 acres in size "primarily affected by the forces of nature with the imprint of man's works substantially unnoticeable." Only Congress can declare a wilderness. Once designated as wilderness an area must be managed in a way that would not impair its wilderness qualities. While many of the lands identified in S. 2535 are under current federal ownership, many portions are not regulated uniformly and do not provide the protections sought by the bill.
Representatives Mike Thompson, D-Eureka, and Hilda Solis, D-East Los Angeles, have or will introduce a similar bill in the House.
S. 2535 would designate over 2.5 million acres of existing federal land as wilderness and free-flowing portions of 22 rivers as "wild and scenic." These designations would protect permanently these lands from logging, construction and motorized vehicles. The areas would remain open for recreational activities including, horseback riding, fishing, hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, cross country skiing, and canoeing. No form of mechanized recreation is allowed in wilderness designated areas. As a result, off-road vehicles, motor bikes and bicycles are prohibited. A recent Chronicle article indicates mountain bike groups have begun supporting S. 2535 after Boxer indicated she will make concessions (removing 300,000 acres of land from the bill).
Existing mining and drilling would be permitted but new mining and drilling would be prohibited. This policy would also apply to livestock grazing. The bill also would allow the use of mechanical means to reduce fire hazard. The federal government would administer and manage the wilderness lands and wild rivers, with specific agency leads depending upon the current designation of the land (either the Secretary of the Interior or Agriculture). |
The bill will include protection of high alpine areas, but focuses, in addition, on lower-elevation areas. According to the Sierra Club Loma Prieta, "These tend to be more productive as wildlife habitat and reservoirs of biological diversity-and are frequently more at risk from resource exploitation and more accessible to threats such as abuses from off-road vehicles. This bill includes samples of some prominent California vegetation communities, such as grasslands, that have virtually no representation yet in our national wilderness preservation system. This bill can make a great difference for these areas that need protection the most."
According to the Los Angeles Times, this bill could settle many of the conservation battles now brewing in the state in the favor of environmentalists. According to a Boxer staffer, this bill would have no cost to the County. In fact, this bill does not include any lands from the San Mateo County. The nearest designated lands are in Napa County.
(Relevant) Members of Congress in support include Eshoo, Pelosi, Honda, Farr, Lofgren. |
