http://www.crowley-offroad.com/new_proposed_wilderness_areas_for_CA.htm

This could be the most important 30 minutes you ever spend reading and learning... What you choose to do with the knowledge is up to you. I would hope that everyone of you puts forth the effort to at least read the information Jon (Crowdog) has taken the time to organize for us. I would also hope that everyone of you can take the time to write a few letters, make a few calls, and sign the petition - once a wilderness area is created, our access is gone for good...

A special Thanks to Jon for making this so easy and organizing all this info into one organized place! The site is easy to navigate and packed full of information and links....

Thanks Jon!! :beer::beer:


:usa:

Wow Crow... Thanks for all the effort. great site

Peter, thanks for your kind words.....

I recieved this response from one of the El Dorado County Supervisors (Helen Baumann). Boxer is pushing her proposals through every County's Supervisors, so contacting your supervisors is VERY important.


Mr. Crowley:

Your email message to Supervisor Baumann in which you expressed your concerns regarding the proposed designation of new Wilderness areas in California has been printed for her review.

Thank you for taking the time to provide both your comments and valuable information.

In terms of Senator Boxer's Wilderness Area Proposal, we are expecting a map from the Senator's office and are looking forward to "overlaying" the map of the proposed new area over the county district map.

Supervisor Baumann expects to be in receipt of material from Senator Boxer's office that will provide a comprehensive understanding of her proposal.

Please contact me if you have additional questions.

Brenda Bailey



I also received this reply from Supervisor Borelli. I actually called his office and talked to his assistant who told me that she was very much in agreement with my letter!


Dear Mr. Crowley:

Thank you for taking the time to write Supervisor Borelli and sharing your concerns regarding Wilderness Areas in California. I will make sure the supervisor receives your valuable input.

These are important issues which will affect all Californians; especially those who are OHV enthusiasts. I am sure the Board of Supervisors will be monitoring this situation closely.

Again, thank you for sharing your viewpoint and knowledge of the situation.

Sincerely,

Julianne van Leeuwen,
Assistant to Supervisor Borelli
District III

Nice open, publicized, public meeting :mad3: . I have asked to be put on the list for any future meetings. Send in those editorials to the Mt. Democrat.

Crowdog
www.crowley-offroad.com
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April 15, 2002 -- Designation still not known after meeting

By EDMOND JACOBY Staff writer

A meeting called by El Dorado County Supervisor Dave Solaro to collect information about the proposed boundaries and extent of land in the county proposed by U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Ca., for designation as wilderness areas was turned on its head Friday when Boxer's state deputy director, Thomas Bohigian, decided he was the fact-finder, not the fact-giver.

Solaro's intention was to sit down with Bohigian, Boxer's point man on the wilderness issue, and "about a dozen" interested parties and hear what the senator's plans entail. She has been preparing legislation for more than a year that would expand federally designated wilderness areas, and a patchwork of land parcels in California is part of the proposal.

While wilderness designation would mean development would be prohibited in those areas, it also would mean that many users now enjoying the land to be designated would lose their access, such as mountain bikers, and basic forestry practices with implications for the safety of nearby inhabited land might change.

Altogether, some 54 people arrived at Strawberry Lodge near Twin Bridges for the morning meeting, representing widely divergent groups.

Solaro asked Bohigian to explain Boxer's plan, and he simply took over instead of moderating and announced that he was there to listen to the proposals and concerns of everyone present. In the end, there was no explanation of the legislation Boxer's office says has not yet been written but will be presented in Congress within the next 60 days. Complex legislation of the sort Boxer's office describes usually takes at least two years to be developed.

"There is no bill that has been crafted and introduced," Bohigian insisted. "We're in the process of meeting with stakeholder groups. It is part of the process to develop a piece of legislation."

Proposed for designation as a wilderness area is land around Caples Lake and Caples Creek. The designation would be a potential problem for El Dorado Irrigation District because Caples Lake is an EID water source, and the creek is part of the water supply for the Project 184 hydroelectric plant.

Not only would designation as a wilderness area make maintenance of the water supply system difficult, because motorized and mechanized equipment would be prohibited by the wilderness designation, but clearing of brush and forest fire fuels which would be prohibited, increase the eventual likelihood of a fire.

EID Board of Directors President George Osborne, a former forest fire fighter, objected that he saw too little concern for obvious dangers in the wilderness designation.

"When a fire starts in a wilderness area," he said, "the initial response is constrained." There is a tendency, he said, to let nature take its course until things get wildly out of hand.

"In the Cleveland (Wilderness) fire, 17,000 acres burned, and the downstream consequences were thousands of tons of mudslides," he said.

"And the potential for that is greatly enhanced: They say they can use mechanized equipment to fight a dangerous fire; but doesn't happen right away, the decision is put off as long as possible, and the result is that when the decision is made, they're running away from it instead of attacking it," he said.

Bohigian agreed, but then quickly changed the subject, saying, "You're completely right. But then, sometimes Arson fires get started way far back in the forest. What do you want to do?"

At least a quarter of those in attendance seemed to support the idea of expanding wilderness designated land in the Sierras and foothills.

Opponents said afterward they were frustrated rather than reassured by the meeting because they came to hear answers responding to their concerns, and they heard none.

"It's a moving target," Osborne said.

"We need to see a map; we need to know what's being proposed," he said.

"But they won't tell us," he complained.

"Hell, we're the principal land owner in this area -- we have the greatest interest in the outcome of this thing -- and we only accidentally found out about the legislation and about this meeting," he said.

Michele Kruger of the Lake Tahoe Snowmobile Association, one of a number of recreational user groups attending, said that her group has "a lot of members who have been snowmobiling in this area since the 1960s."

She said that "they risk being closed out of where they recreate. Sometimes, that's literally in their own back yards."

She went on to suggest that "if you designate too much wilderness area in California, it will lose its value." The comment drew nods of approval from most of the attendees.

"Bohigian does a very good job of deflecting, rather than answering, questions," said Becky Bell, a mountain biker.

Asked to explain Sen. Boxer's expectations for the economic impact of enlarging wilderness set-asides in California, Bohigian said he thought it might benefit tourism.

"We were a little hurt that Sen. Boxer did not come herself to El Dorado County and to the Irrigation District to talk about this with us," said John Fraser, a member of the EID Board of Directors.

"We found out about this from second- and third-hand sources," he said.

"Our only agenda here is good public policy," Bohigian said.

"That's why we want to have your input," he said.

http://www.mtdemocrat.com/display/inn_news/P0415_N3.txt

Furor over Cache Creek designation

April 24, 2002

By UCILIA WANG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

LAKE COUNTY

LAKEPORT -- A plan to give added protection to some federal land in Lake County drew resistance Tuesday from county supervisors.


Concerns about losing access to water prompted the objection to Sen. Barbara Boxer's proposal to include about 42,000 acres around Cache Creek in a bill to designate millions of acres throughout the state as federal wilderness areas.


In Lake County, some residents are still angry about a decision by the Board of Supervisors to sell Yolo County rights to water in Clear Lake nearly a century ago. The current board fears the county would lose more control if the wilderness proposal becomes law.


"I can tell you that I am opposed to anything having to do with Cache Creek," Supervisor Gary Lewis said. "It's too scary to give up our rights. We have enough wilderness areas."


The board voted 4-1 to send a letter opposing a wilderness designation for Cache Creek. Supervisor Ed Robey cast the dissenting vote.


Robey also supports an 11,500-acre expansion of the Snow Mountain Wilderness Area in the Mendocino National Forest, which is likely to be included in Boxer's legislation.


The board didn't take a position on that provision.


All of the land under consideration already belongs to the federal government.


Lake County supervisors said they fear that wilderness protection would make it more difficult to build dams, reservoirs or other facilities along Cache Creek, which is the outlet for Clear Lake.


The county has no current plans to develop water from Cache Creek.


North Coast residents have flooded public meetings in the past year as Boxer's staff and the environmental groups supporting her effort presented her vision of what should be included in the legislation.


The bill, which is still being drafted, is scheduled for introduction in Congress in May, said Tom Bohigian, assistant state director for Boxer.


Wilderness designation is given to federal land that has retained its natural characteristics. It protects the land from development, such as oil drilling, road building and logging.


People can ride horses, hike and hunt in wilderness areas, but they can't mountain bike or use off-road vehicles.


"I support the expansion of wilderness areas because they are a place for solitude," Bill Knispel, an agricultural consultant and hunter, said at the board meeting. "It's also a reservoir for game and a free and quality place to hunt."


Critics said the designation would prevent many people from enjoying land that is maintained by tax dollars.


"Giving up our rights to the government is a one-way trip," said Randy Ridgel, a Kelseyville resident. "We are about to give the federal government the right for us to enter those areas."


Other North Coast areas being considered include the King Range in Humboldt County and land surrounding the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness, which crosses Mendocino, Trinity and Shasta counties.


Boxer isn't considering any areas in Sonoma County.


Her bill, which could include up to 2.5 million acres, would be the largest expansion of wilderness areas in the state since the 1994 California Desert Protection Act, which was sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein.


The Desert Protection Act gave special status to 7 million acres of land, doubling the size of the state's wilderness areas.


Boxer's bill also would ask for the "wild and scenic" designation for eligible rivers in the state. The designation would prevent development such as dam building and prohibit major diversions.


Black Butte River in Mendocino County could be included, according to an environmental coalition working with Boxer on the legislation.


In Lake County, proponents initially wanted to designate Cache Creek as "wild and scenic," but dropped the idea after hearing strong opposition from Lake and Yolo County.


You can reach Staff Writer Ucilia Wang at 462-6473 or uwang@pressdemocrat.com.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/local/news/24wilderness_b1.html