Crowdog
03-28-2002, 10:10 AM
By EDMOND JACOBY Staff writer
California's junior senator plans to introduce this year a bill to set aside additional lands in the Golden State as wilderness areas.
Two of the areas likely to receive the wilderness designation are in El Dorado County, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer's office said yesterday.
Among other things, the wilderness designation will prevent road building in the two areas, and mechanized forms of transportation, including bicycles, will be prohibited.
According to Tom Bohigian, Boxer's deputy state director who is heading up the project, "no decisions have been made yet; everything's still open for discussion."
However, Don Amador, the western representative for Blue Ribbon Coalition Inc., said his efforts to get together with Boxer's staff to hold discussions have been rebuffed.
"Sen. Boxer is planning to introduce a bill that will designate additional wilderness areas for protection within California," Bohigian said.
Among those additional areas is a zone along the El Dorado-Alpine County border, "including Meiss Meadows and Caples Creek," he said.
"Some citizens groups proposed including Freel Peak, as well, Bohigian said, but that area was too heavily used for mountain biking to be considered.
A characteristic of designated wilderness areas under the Wilderness Act of 1964 is the prohibition of commercial activities and permanent roads within such areas.
The act further provides that "... there shall be no temporary road, no use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other form of mechanical transport, and no structure or installation within any such area."
User groups, such as the Blue Ribbon Commission, oppose designating some areas, such as those in El Dorado County, as wilderness areas because of the restrictions on access the designation would impose. For example, motorcyclists and off-highway vehicle operators who now use some trails in the area would be prohibited access, as would bicyclists and, perhaps, even persons who must use wheelchairs for mobility.
Even equestrians, whose horses would be permitted on wilderness trails, often object because they need a permanent road system to enter the wilderness area with horse trailers.
A system of feeder roads approaching wilderness areas has been proposed, called cherry stems, which Boxer's staff favors and which some user groups oppose on the theory that bottlenecks they create will, in the end, be used as justifications for closure of the approach roads.
"We are making a really strong effort not to close roads in the areas we designate," Bohigian said.
"In some cases we're proposing the use of cherry stems (public roads into trailheads within wilderness areas), and in some areas we've drawn areas out where there is a lot of traffic," Bohigian said.
"If we put a cherry stem in the legislation, that means that's the intent of Congress: Keep it open," he said.
"Motorized or mechanized use via the cherry-stemmed concept is an allowed use, not a prescribed use," Amador said. "The Gasquet-Orleans road in the Six Rivers National Forest was originally cherry-stemmed in the California Wilderness Act of 1984, yet in the early '90s it was closed to motorized access because that was not compatible with wilderness values," he said.
And "four-wheel-drive use of the Bureau of Land Management's Black Sands Beach in Northern California was recently banned because, the agency said, 'OHV use is not compatible with wilderness values," he added.
"We're trying to thread the needle and satisfy as many people as possible. Some will say we've not gone far enough, and others that we've gone too far," Bohigian said.
"There are a number of things you can do in wilderness areas," he said. "Hunting, fishing, grazing cattle if you have a permit, taking in pack animals, walking and hiking, for example. But you cannot take mechanical things on the trails. Mountain bikes not allowed.
"Sen. Boxer is trying to protect the natural heritage of our state," Bohigian said.
"One of the responsibilities of Congress is look to the future. Just as we have finally realized that we have to protect Lake Tahoe, now we are looking to the future. If we didn't, California would be a poorer place, and our economy would probably be poorer, too," he said.
El Dorado Irrigation District project administrator David Witter said his agency has some concerns about the idea of designating the Caples Creek area a wilderness.
"Anytime you put that designation on an area, it means that there will be restrictions that could impact your use of it," he said.
"If you cannot do the normal fire prevention, fuel clearing, normal forestry practices, that would impact your ability to manage the resource and operate the facility," he said.
Caples Lake, which may or may not be within the area identified by Boxer's staff for inclusion in a wilderness area, is an EID reservoir, and California Highway 88 sits atop the dike that forms the lake. Water from the reservoir flows down Caples Creek, which is in the designated area. Caples Creek is a tributary of Silver Fork of the American River, which comes from Silver Lake, another EID reservoir.
"Will the wilderness designation mean that someone can require a particular flow regime?" he asked.
Other utility officials have indicated concern, as well. In the South Lake Tahoe area, sewage treatment effluent must be pumped out of the valley, and the pipeline used to do that passes through the area proposed for wilderness designation. Because the pipeline already is in place it cannot be prohibited, but trucks and other mechanical equipment used to maintain and repair it might be prohibited.
Blue Ribbon Coalition's Don Amador said he has "attempted to meet with Boxer's staff a number of times, but every time I was unsuccessful."
Amador's group does not necessarily oppose wilderness creation, but it does oppose restrictions on land use in areas where popular demand already exists.
"In January I telephoned (Bohigian) and he was going to call me back," Amador said, "but I've never heard from him. I sent a letter to Boxer's office to say we're willing to work with them, and I never got a reply."
His feeling is that as Boxer prepares to introduce the legislation, "it's been a less than honest process."
He said that a county supervisor in Kern County told him that "he had told Boxer's staff either to bring accurate maps of the proposed wilderness areas, or get ... out of my office."
"I'm not sure they (Boxer's staff) knew what they were getting into when they started this stuff," Amador said.
California's junior senator plans to introduce this year a bill to set aside additional lands in the Golden State as wilderness areas.
Two of the areas likely to receive the wilderness designation are in El Dorado County, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer's office said yesterday.
Among other things, the wilderness designation will prevent road building in the two areas, and mechanized forms of transportation, including bicycles, will be prohibited.
According to Tom Bohigian, Boxer's deputy state director who is heading up the project, "no decisions have been made yet; everything's still open for discussion."
However, Don Amador, the western representative for Blue Ribbon Coalition Inc., said his efforts to get together with Boxer's staff to hold discussions have been rebuffed.
"Sen. Boxer is planning to introduce a bill that will designate additional wilderness areas for protection within California," Bohigian said.
Among those additional areas is a zone along the El Dorado-Alpine County border, "including Meiss Meadows and Caples Creek," he said.
"Some citizens groups proposed including Freel Peak, as well, Bohigian said, but that area was too heavily used for mountain biking to be considered.
A characteristic of designated wilderness areas under the Wilderness Act of 1964 is the prohibition of commercial activities and permanent roads within such areas.
The act further provides that "... there shall be no temporary road, no use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other form of mechanical transport, and no structure or installation within any such area."
User groups, such as the Blue Ribbon Commission, oppose designating some areas, such as those in El Dorado County, as wilderness areas because of the restrictions on access the designation would impose. For example, motorcyclists and off-highway vehicle operators who now use some trails in the area would be prohibited access, as would bicyclists and, perhaps, even persons who must use wheelchairs for mobility.
Even equestrians, whose horses would be permitted on wilderness trails, often object because they need a permanent road system to enter the wilderness area with horse trailers.
A system of feeder roads approaching wilderness areas has been proposed, called cherry stems, which Boxer's staff favors and which some user groups oppose on the theory that bottlenecks they create will, in the end, be used as justifications for closure of the approach roads.
"We are making a really strong effort not to close roads in the areas we designate," Bohigian said.
"In some cases we're proposing the use of cherry stems (public roads into trailheads within wilderness areas), and in some areas we've drawn areas out where there is a lot of traffic," Bohigian said.
"If we put a cherry stem in the legislation, that means that's the intent of Congress: Keep it open," he said.
"Motorized or mechanized use via the cherry-stemmed concept is an allowed use, not a prescribed use," Amador said. "The Gasquet-Orleans road in the Six Rivers National Forest was originally cherry-stemmed in the California Wilderness Act of 1984, yet in the early '90s it was closed to motorized access because that was not compatible with wilderness values," he said.
And "four-wheel-drive use of the Bureau of Land Management's Black Sands Beach in Northern California was recently banned because, the agency said, 'OHV use is not compatible with wilderness values," he added.
"We're trying to thread the needle and satisfy as many people as possible. Some will say we've not gone far enough, and others that we've gone too far," Bohigian said.
"There are a number of things you can do in wilderness areas," he said. "Hunting, fishing, grazing cattle if you have a permit, taking in pack animals, walking and hiking, for example. But you cannot take mechanical things on the trails. Mountain bikes not allowed.
"Sen. Boxer is trying to protect the natural heritage of our state," Bohigian said.
"One of the responsibilities of Congress is look to the future. Just as we have finally realized that we have to protect Lake Tahoe, now we are looking to the future. If we didn't, California would be a poorer place, and our economy would probably be poorer, too," he said.
El Dorado Irrigation District project administrator David Witter said his agency has some concerns about the idea of designating the Caples Creek area a wilderness.
"Anytime you put that designation on an area, it means that there will be restrictions that could impact your use of it," he said.
"If you cannot do the normal fire prevention, fuel clearing, normal forestry practices, that would impact your ability to manage the resource and operate the facility," he said.
Caples Lake, which may or may not be within the area identified by Boxer's staff for inclusion in a wilderness area, is an EID reservoir, and California Highway 88 sits atop the dike that forms the lake. Water from the reservoir flows down Caples Creek, which is in the designated area. Caples Creek is a tributary of Silver Fork of the American River, which comes from Silver Lake, another EID reservoir.
"Will the wilderness designation mean that someone can require a particular flow regime?" he asked.
Other utility officials have indicated concern, as well. In the South Lake Tahoe area, sewage treatment effluent must be pumped out of the valley, and the pipeline used to do that passes through the area proposed for wilderness designation. Because the pipeline already is in place it cannot be prohibited, but trucks and other mechanical equipment used to maintain and repair it might be prohibited.
Blue Ribbon Coalition's Don Amador said he has "attempted to meet with Boxer's staff a number of times, but every time I was unsuccessful."
Amador's group does not necessarily oppose wilderness creation, but it does oppose restrictions on land use in areas where popular demand already exists.
"In January I telephoned (Bohigian) and he was going to call me back," Amador said, "but I've never heard from him. I sent a letter to Boxer's office to say we're willing to work with them, and I never got a reply."
His feeling is that as Boxer prepares to introduce the legislation, "it's been a less than honest process."
He said that a county supervisor in Kern County told him that "he had told Boxer's staff either to bring accurate maps of the proposed wilderness areas, or get ... out of my office."
"I'm not sure they (Boxer's staff) knew what they were getting into when they started this stuff," Amador said.