Access Updates
Summer 2003 Wilderness Update
Senator Barbara Boxer Reintroduces Her California Statewide Wilderness Bill (S1555)
On Friday, August 1st, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer introduced a bill to designate 2.5 million acres of public lands in
California as wilderness. It is the second time that Ms. Boxer has introduced the bill, called the California Wild
Heritage Wilderness Act (S1555).
Opponents of the bill argue that the state does not need new wilderness areas and that lands are already protected
against unsustainable activities by the NEPA process, the Endangered Species Act (which has been abused by use of
fraud to close off areas) and the Forest Planning process.
Senator Boxer is trying to set aside areas that should be left open for multiple use and protection from
catastrophic wildfires.
Under the bill an additional 246,000 acres of Los Padres would be designated as wilderness, bringing the total
wilderness to nearly two-thirds of the forest. Los Padres spans six counties from Monterey to Ventura and covers
1.7 million acres. Many other areas throughout California including popular riding areas near Los Angeles, the
White Mountains, Mammoth and Lake Tahoe will also be affected.
John Borg of MTBAccess has been analyzing Senator Boxer's
wilderness bill (S1555) and found
some other "interesting" sections in addition to proposed the FS, BLM, and NPS Wilderness.
The most outrageous part of the bill is Section 105, Designation of Potential Wilderness Areas.
Section 105 describes two units that have a combined area of 16,566 acres. Both are BLM land in northwest
California (Ukiah and Arcata BLM field offices). We are not sure if these areas have existing or potential MTB
trail opportunities.
These "potential" wilderness areas apparently have features that disqualify them as wilderness, so S1555 asks for
an appropriation of $5M a year for five years to "restore" them ($25M for restoration of 16,566 acres!) by
removing roads, skid trails, etc., after which S1555 mandates the areas become designated Wilderness. The
restoration doesn't even need to happen; if restoration doesn't occur within five years, the areas become
Wilderness anyway.
The danger of this section is it sets a precedent for any area to be "rehabilitated" back to "wilderness
condition" so that it would qualify for the wilderness designation and could spell doom in the future for mountain
biking.
Ironically, it seems that motorized equipment and vehicles will be needed to "convert" these areas to "pristine
wilderness." Sort of blows a hole in that oft-used emotion/urgency-laden slogan that "once they're gone, they're
gone forever."
To view the legislation, status, etc., go to http://thomas.loc.gov/
and enter "S1555" (without quotes) in the "Bill Number" field under "Search Bill Text 108th Congress (2003-2004)."
Senator Boxer introduced her wilderness bill last year and withdrew it for lack of support, but by taking a
piecemeal approach, one piece of the legislation that had little opposition survived: the designation of 54,000
acres of Big Sur as new wilderness.
Wilderness Proponents Are Attempting a Piecemeal Approach to California Wilderness Designations
As we mentioned in our previous alert, wilderness proponents are using a strategy to advance the wilderness
designation in California by attempting to slip them in piecemeal, where they could stay below the radar and
become law. While the focus may be on Senator Boxer's statewide California wilderness bill (S1555), we must all be
alert to this tactic of implementing piecemeal wilderness designations.
U.S. Representative Mike Thompson has introduced a wilderness bill, H.R.1501, that contains the northern
California areas in Senator Boxer's statewide wilderness proposal.
If not resisted from the beginning, this and similar bills can slide through, giving opponents no time to organize
and respond.
Take action!!
It is urgent that all mountain bikers contact Senator Diane Feinstein and request that she not support these
wilderness bills. Mountain bikers should also contact Representative Mike Thompson and ask him to reconsider his
northern California-specific wilderness bill.
It is also important to contact Representative Pombo, chair of the House Resources Committee, who has already
voiced his opposition to wilderness designations, and support his position. Our legislative representative Candace
Ricks-Oathout will be submitting written testimony to Rep. Pombo stating our opposition to these and other
wilderness designations, as well as our other concerns regarding management policies and laws that have locked out
recreation from our public lands. Candace hopes to meet with Rep. Pombo in August to reiterate our concerns.
When contacting these representatives, it is important to state the following talking points:
1. Wilderness designation prohibits mountain bikes and other recreational activities, which would have an adverse
affect on the local communities that rely on recreation to support their economies. If you are familiar with or
have ridden on the trails in the proposed bill, state that in your letter to show a personal connection with the
area.
2. Mention that there are existing laws and policies such as the Endangered Species Act, the NEPA process, Forest
Plans, etc., that offer existing protection to these areas to prevent exploitation and unsustainable activities.
3. Wilderness designations prevent the use of management techniques needed to address the catastrophic fires we
have been experiencing in the West. Wilderness designations tie the hands of the Forest Service, BLM and other
agencies in the use of preventative measures to address the overgrowth of fuels in our forests and in fighting
fires once they start. Billions of dollars of damage and wasted tax dollars are the result of abandoning the
management of our forests.
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This DEIS will contain the information
in which the Forest Plans for the four national forests in southern California will be based.
Chris Vargas, the Executive Director of the Warrior's Society, has extensive experience in working with the Forest
Service as well as experience with the Forest Plan process and the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS). Chris
helped initiate the coalition that defeated the proposed wilderness designations in the Trabuco District of the
Cleveland National Forest, which contains the world-famous San Juan Trail.