Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) will soon reintroduce the California Wild Heritage Act, which would severally affect our access to 2.5 million acres of forest and 400 miles of rivers in California. We need your help to discourage Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) from cosponsoring the California Wild Heritage Act.

In the latest release from the California Wilderness Coalition, they are pushing their supporters through the use of petitions, calls, letters and faxes to lobby Senator Feinstein to cosponsor the Wilderness Bill. They began this push at the beginning of the year and will continue it through April 19th.

They are out getting signatures from the general public to support wilderness when the general public does not understand how this will affect their access and the management of their public lands to prevent wildfires. They are hoping to get 100,000 signatures to present to Senator Feinstein.

We need your help to let Senator Feinstein know that there are many others who understand the ramifications this bill will have on the management of our forests to protect against devastating fires and our access to them. We also need to stress the need for the use of other designations that would protect our access.

To date, the senior senator from California has been withholding support. This push could change that stance. Please consider this a high priority item to generate your own letter and promoting your own petition gathering signatures in opposition to the bill and asking your local bike shop to do the same.

If we all just gathered one page of signatures we would counter any campaign by the California Wilderness Coalition. Ask your relatives, friends and co-workers to sign. Feinstein's mailing address is located at the bottom of the petition. You can make a big difference!

A pre-prepared petition can be printed off our web site.

A sample letter and her contact info are below. While this wilderness bill may not pass through congress this session, it will become a campaign issue during the election year cycle.

Even if you intend to gather signatures on a petition - as icing in the cake please fax or call Senator Feinstein and ask her not to cosponsor the bill.

SAMPLE LETTER (YOU CAN MAKE PETITIONS OUT OF THIS STATEMENT AND FAX OR MAIL THEM TO SENATOR FEINSTEIN)

Senator Dianne Feinstein One Post Street Suite 2450 San Francisco, CA 94104 Phone: 415-393-0707 Fax: 415-393-0710 Dear Senator I thank you for the leadership you've provided over the years on important land conservation issues. I also appreciate and support your hesitancy in cosponsoring the California Wild Heritage Act sponsored by fellow California Senator Barbara Boxer. I ask that you do not cosponsor this bill, which would drastically affect our ability to manage our forests to protect against devastating fires, as well as restrict our ability to recreate in them. Sincerely,

You can also write a Letter to the Editor of your local paper!

Writing a letter to the editor (LTE) is a simple and effective way to inform the general public - and more importantly, your elected officials

- About the importance of protecting California's remaining wild lands and rivers by management methods not allowed by wilderness, such as protection against devastating fires. Many forests are in need of projects to remove diseased trees that add to the fire danger. There have been several great stories around the state you can write a LTE in response to.

- Protecting wild places by use of proper fire management that is not allowed under wilderness is good for the economy. Visitors such as mountain biker's and other recreationists to our forests and other public lands generate an additional $44 per acre per year of spending in nearby communities. If these recreational activities are banned it will have a devastating effect on our rural communities and counties that rely on the dollars they bring in.

- Protecting our wilderness and wild rivers from devastating fires protects the homes of plants and wildlife - including hundreds of threatened and endangered species.

- The effect this bill will have in closing off trails and roads we have historically had recreational access to.

- Mention your favorite area or trail, why you love it, and how this wilderness bill will affect your access to it.

Please take five minutes to send off a quick (200 words or less) LTE to your local paper(s). You can use the talking points below, and be sure to include your name, address, and phone number (to confirm you are the author, should they want to print it).

You can easily find the contact information for your local newspaper here.

but here are a few major outlets:

Sacramento Bee - opinion@sacbee.com - fax 916-321-1996
SF Chronicle - letters@sfchronicle.com - fax 415-896-1107
LA Times - letters@latimes.com - fax 213-237-4712
Monterey Co. Herald - mheditor@montereyherald.com - fax 831-372-8401
San Jose Mercury News - letters@sjmercury.com - fax 408-288-8060
San Diego Union-Tribune - letters@uniontrib.com - fax 619-293-1440
Contra Costa Times - jarmstrong@cctimes.com - fax 925-933-0239

Click here for a list of all the wilderness alerts

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