Sierra Club
Redwood Chapter Newsletter
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A Positive Development for Wilderness in Northern California Gregg J. Gold | |
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On February 14, 2005 after hundreds of phone calls, e-mails, faxes and letters generated by wilderness and wild river advocates around the state and nation, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger formally endorsed the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act (H.R. 233/ S. 128) sponsored by Representative Mike Thompson and Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein. The Wilderness Act will designate more than 300,000 acres of federal lands in Northern California as protected wilderness. Protected areas include 41,614 acres in the Kings Range National Conservation Area, nearly 110,000 acres in the Mendocino National Forest, more than 85,000 acres in the Six Rivers National Forest, 51,790 acres in the Yuki Wilderness area, 21 miles of the Black Butte River, and nearly 80,000 acres of other BLM lands. All of the lands in the bill are in Representative Thompson's congressional district. The Wilderness Act has been strongly supported by the Redwood Chapter and Groups including the North Group Executive Committee and many other local members, some of whom traveled to San Francisco to meet with Senator Feinstein's staff and to Washington to lobby for earlier versions in the Senate and the House. The effort was also supported by students in the Humboldt State University Wilderness Club, who generated hundreds of letters from students and local businesses in support of an earlier version of the Act. A number of other environmentalists also supported the bill. David Whitney of the Sacramento Bee wrote on Feb. 17th that Representative Thompson said that the bill has been endorsed by timber companies, farmers, homebuilders and other stakeholders. All of the lands already are owned by the federal government, and no existing legal roads will be closed as a result of the legislation. |
Joshua Buswell-Charkow who is with the California Wilderness Coalition wrote that with the highest elected official in the state (and perhaps the most popular Republican politician in the country) behind this bill, we could see some swift movement in the coming months. Everyone should congratulate themselves for this incredible accomplishment as it could not have been done without all the hard work of volunteers from all across the state. What You Can Do: Bushwell-Charkow said that it is important that we get thank you letters to Governor Schwarzenegger for this important milestone. This could help foster a good working relationship between this administration and environmentalists. You can help by letting the Governer know that North Coast residents support his decision. Send your letter to: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
You can also send your Thank You via e-mail on the Governors website at www.govmail.ca.gov/. Be sure to choose "Federal Wilderness" for the subject line. |