The Loma Prietan
July/August 2002
California's Wilderness:
Will it be there tomorrow, and for future generations?
by Barbara Boyle, senior CA/NV/HI representative
and Vicky Hoover, chair of the California/Nevada Wilderness Committee
What is a mere month for the wilderness? Consider May 2002. On May 11, California Sen. Barbara Boxer announced her plans to introduce the California Wild Heritage Wilderness Act of 2002. And ten days later, on May 21, Sen. Boxer introduced it into the U.S. Senate, as S. 2535. This new bill includes 2.5 million acres of new wilderness, over 400 new miles of wild and scenic rivers, a Sacramento River National Conservation Area, and restoration of several potential wilderness areas—areas that have had some past impacts but are gradually reverting to their natural state. A month like this makes a big difference for California's wilderness.
What are five years for wilderness? It took nearly five years of intensive wilderness activism by the Sierra Club and other volunteers to lay the groundwork for Sen. Boxer's new bill. These five years of effort will make a difference for California's wilderness.
What could nine years mean for wilderness? It was nine years from Sen. Alan Cranston's announcement that he would introduce a California Desert Act till his successor, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, won final passage of the bill.
Passing a new California Wilderness Bill will also take time—maybe years of effort, but we know that thousands of activists around the state are dedicated to staying with the campaign—until the bill is passed, and the valuable new wilderness protections are in place.
What can all our efforts mean for wilderness? Sen. Boxer's new bill will be the 19th successive wilderness bill for California. Past bills, starting with the original 1964 Wilderness Act, have achieved a total of 14 million acres of designated wilderness in our state, nearly 14 percent of the state's total area. The 2.5 million acres in the new bill represent a substantial and ambitious addition to the state's protected lands—about a third of California's potential 7 million acres of unprotected wilderness and a hefty fraction of its thousands of miles of wild rivers. When this bill passes, we will keep up our efforts to protect even more wild lands.
The California Wild Heritage Act will protect some very important lands. Earlier bills often protected high alpine areas of great scenic splendor. The current campaign includes more of these lands, but focuses, in addition, on lower-elevation areas. 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.
May 11 saw 20 media events and celebrations around the state, gaining great media coverage and giving a boost to activists who have worked hard to achieve local support. Sen. Boxer, speaking at the May 11 rally at San Francisco's Presidio, emphasized the enormous support her bill has received around the state. Dramatically she unrolled a 20-foot-long scroll listing the organizations and elected officials who have expressed their support. Vigorous local support for specific areas was very important to the Senator to assure a strong, credible bill in Congress. And the broad support gleaned in many communities for the concept of wildlands preservation will help in increasing momentum for future legislative wilderness campaigns.
More than 200 people, including Chapter Director Dan Kalb and many other Bay Area Sierra Club activists, were in the enthusiastic San Francisco crowd.
On the House of Representatives side, there will be multiple bills to assure that all the areas in Sen. Boxer's bill are covered legislatively. Rep. Hilda Solis will introduce a Southern California companion bill to Boxer's, and Rep. Mike Thompson, who represents the North Coast, will introduce a Northern California companion bill. In the meantime Rep. Sam Farr of Carmel has introduced the Big Sur Wilderness and Conservation Act of 2002, (H.R. 4750) to protect 57,000 acres of federal land in his own Central Coast Congressional district. His bill includes additions to the Ventana Wilderness, the Silver Peak Wilderness, and a small addition to wilderness in the Pinnacles National Monument.
Bills were created by volunteers
How did this legislation come about? It was mainly through the efforts of volunteers. And it will be mainly through the efforts of volunteers that it gets passed and signed.
The campaign began in 1997 under the name "Wildlands 2000". As it evolved and grew, it was renamed the "California Wild Heritage Campaign". Volunteers studied maps of the wild public lands of the state, and then went out to map and examine the potential wilderness. Volunteers led—and will continue to lead—outings to show these lands to others. Volunteers worked hard to develop support among their own community leaders and local elected officials. It will be volunteers who educate the public and create the enthusiasm that will bring the bills through.
In addition to our grassroots leaders, staff from many Sierra Club departments have contributed to this effort, and their help will keep increasing. Staff played a special role in approaching all the legislators who have introduced bills. Our door-to-door canvassers in California will focus on this campaign this summer, providing an immense outreach opportunity to build support.
What You Can Do
As the campaign moves to Congress, we must persuade our representatives to co-sponsor it. Sen. Dianne Feinstein must join wholeheartedly in support of Sen. Boxer's effort. Write or fax Sen. Feinstein at:
1 Post Street, #2450
San Francisco, CA 94104
FAX 415/393-0710
Tell her that you enthusiastically support Sen. Boxer's California Wild Heritage Wilderness Act, S. 2535, and ask her to co-sponsor it and support it actively. If you have personal knowledge of areas in the bill, explain why you feel they are so deserving of protection.
In addition, the campaign will increase media work and defense for every area within the legislation, while continuing public outreach and education on the values of protecting these areas for future generations. Many Sierra Club Chapters and other organizations will continue leading trips to potential wilderness areas.
For more information on the campaign and how you can help, contact Barbara Boyle at: barbara.boyle@sierraclub.org or Vicky Hoover at 415/977-5527 or vicky.hoover@sierraclub.org.
For more information about the magnificent lands that this bill would protect, see the web site of the California Wilderness Coalition at: www.calwild.org.