Defend Henry Coe Park: no trains in the wilderness

Background

In November of 2004, a bond measure will appear on the ballot to fund a high speed rail (HSR) network connecting the major metropolitan areas of California. HSR could bring enormous environmental benefits by cutting down on air and car travel.

Unfortunately, the California High Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) is considering two routes across the Diablo Range that would cut through the heart of the Orestimba Wilderness in Henry Coe State Park. The Orestimba is an offically designated Wilderness Area, and as such should be safe forever from development: permanent structures and motorized transport are forbidden by law. If these proposed routes become part of the Environmental Impact Report, the entire HSR enterprise could be jeopardized.

The Sierra Club recently passed a resolution opposing the Coe HSR routes.

What you can do

Please write a letter to the High Speed Rail Authority telling them that you support High Speed Rail but are opposed to the proposed routes through Henry Coe State Park. Ask them to remove these proposals from consideration. The Draft EIR is expected sometime in August, so time is short. Write today! Send your letter to

Joseph Petrillo
Chair, California High Speed Rail Authority
915 L Street, Suite 1425
Sacramento, CA 95814

You can use this flyer to distribute at meetings, outings, or other occasions.

If you would like to be involved further, you may want to subscribe to our Coe alerts email list. To subscribe, send a message to listserv@lists.sierraclub.org. The message (not the subject) should read

susbcribe lomap-henrycoe-alerts firstname lastname

Thank you for helping to preserve this incomparable park.

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