Crowdog
06-20-2002, 08:11 PM
Wednesday, June 19, 2002 - 7:11:50 AM MST
Thompson bill would protect 840,000 acres as wilderness
By John Driscoll The Times-Standard
U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson introduced legislation Tuesday that would make nearly 840,000 acres of federal land in Northern California wilderness if it and Senate legislation runs the gauntlet of Congress.
About half those acres are in Humboldt, Del Norte, Trinity and Siskiyou Counties.
Thompson, D-Napa, represents the the First District which includes some of the lands included in the bill.
Environmentalists and wilderness advocates see the bill as a blessing that will preempt logging and mining, protecting the land from future damage. Sentiment from some counties on a similar bill authored by U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer of California shows staunch opposition to further restrictions on federal property.
The House and Senate versions of the bill aim to place some 2.4 million acres under wilderness protection. Rep. Hilda Solis, D-El Monte, has authored House legislation covering about 1.5 million acres in Southern California. All tolled, that would jump the percentage of wilderness areas from 13 to 16.5 percent of land in California. It is also expected to reduce logging on public lands by 10 percent.
Many of the proposed wilderness areas are in what are called roadless areas already. Essentially that means no roads may be built in the area unless forest supervisors get permission from higher-ups. Cutting fire lines with machinery and some other tasks also require similar permission. Proponents said that no areas legally open to vehicles now will be closed.
Many of the areas are extremely remote, and unlike public lands in Southern California are unlikely to be encroached on by development anytime in the foreseeable future. But Thompson spokesman Jonathan Birdsong said the legislation is looking far into the future.
"It would be a shame not to protect these areas," Birdsong said. "Someday they may not be as remote anymore."
The proposed wilderness area closest to the Eureka area is Mad River Buttes. The 5,740-acre area, which can be accessed by Titlow Hill Road, holds the headwaters of Redwood Creek. "Mind-blowing" wildflowers, old-growth forest and views that stretch from the Pacific Ocean to Shasta Mountain are among the area's special aesthetic traits, said California Wilderness Coalition conservation associate Ryan Henson.
"The areas that Congressman Thompson is working to protect are critical refuges for salmon and other species, and are among the most beautiful places in California," Henson said.
Nearly 100,000 acres are proposed as additions to the Trinity Alps Wilderness in the Horse Linto Creek and Red Cap Creek drainages, part of which burned in the 1999 Megram Fire. Another 87,000 acres are proposed to be added to the Siskiyou Wilderness in Humboldt and Del Norte counties. The 7,300-acre Mount Lassic area boasts rare plants, old-growth forest and seasonal wetlands, and about 5 miles of the Van Duzen River runs through it.
Of the 958,000 acres in Six Rivers National Forest, 123,150 are currently designated as wilderness.
Six Rivers Supervisor Lou Woltering said that little will change from a fire management perspective if roadless area and changed to wilderness.
"Because of the way we're managing them now, I doubt that there would be a real benefit to making them wilderness from a management standpoint," Woltering said.
But Woltering did express some concern about the difficulty in managing the smaller proposed wildernesses at Mad River Buttes and Mount Lassic. Designating an area wilderness often attracts more people, Woltering said, and slim budgets are given to the large wilderness areas, let alone small, out-of-the-way areas like the Buttes and Lassic.
Henson said that the designations will not affect the Six Rivers National Forest's plans to build fuel breaks, areas that are cleared of brush and some trees where firefighters might stop approaching fires.
Plumas and Inyo counties both oppose Boxer's Senate bill, which would also make 525 miles of river federally designated as wild and scenic. Plumas County supervisors wrote to Boxer that language that would allow motorized equipment to access the areas for fire management is "disingenuous and unacceptable."
"Too much of anything is never good," they wrote. "That also pertains to wilderness ... Our public lands must be managed wisely, not fenced off to burn another day."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 1999-2002 MediaNews Group, Inc
http://www.times-standard.com/Stories/0,1413,127%7E2896%7E683140,00.html
Thompson bill would protect 840,000 acres as wilderness
By John Driscoll The Times-Standard
U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson introduced legislation Tuesday that would make nearly 840,000 acres of federal land in Northern California wilderness if it and Senate legislation runs the gauntlet of Congress.
About half those acres are in Humboldt, Del Norte, Trinity and Siskiyou Counties.
Thompson, D-Napa, represents the the First District which includes some of the lands included in the bill.
Environmentalists and wilderness advocates see the bill as a blessing that will preempt logging and mining, protecting the land from future damage. Sentiment from some counties on a similar bill authored by U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer of California shows staunch opposition to further restrictions on federal property.
The House and Senate versions of the bill aim to place some 2.4 million acres under wilderness protection. Rep. Hilda Solis, D-El Monte, has authored House legislation covering about 1.5 million acres in Southern California. All tolled, that would jump the percentage of wilderness areas from 13 to 16.5 percent of land in California. It is also expected to reduce logging on public lands by 10 percent.
Many of the proposed wilderness areas are in what are called roadless areas already. Essentially that means no roads may be built in the area unless forest supervisors get permission from higher-ups. Cutting fire lines with machinery and some other tasks also require similar permission. Proponents said that no areas legally open to vehicles now will be closed.
Many of the areas are extremely remote, and unlike public lands in Southern California are unlikely to be encroached on by development anytime in the foreseeable future. But Thompson spokesman Jonathan Birdsong said the legislation is looking far into the future.
"It would be a shame not to protect these areas," Birdsong said. "Someday they may not be as remote anymore."
The proposed wilderness area closest to the Eureka area is Mad River Buttes. The 5,740-acre area, which can be accessed by Titlow Hill Road, holds the headwaters of Redwood Creek. "Mind-blowing" wildflowers, old-growth forest and views that stretch from the Pacific Ocean to Shasta Mountain are among the area's special aesthetic traits, said California Wilderness Coalition conservation associate Ryan Henson.
"The areas that Congressman Thompson is working to protect are critical refuges for salmon and other species, and are among the most beautiful places in California," Henson said.
Nearly 100,000 acres are proposed as additions to the Trinity Alps Wilderness in the Horse Linto Creek and Red Cap Creek drainages, part of which burned in the 1999 Megram Fire. Another 87,000 acres are proposed to be added to the Siskiyou Wilderness in Humboldt and Del Norte counties. The 7,300-acre Mount Lassic area boasts rare plants, old-growth forest and seasonal wetlands, and about 5 miles of the Van Duzen River runs through it.
Of the 958,000 acres in Six Rivers National Forest, 123,150 are currently designated as wilderness.
Six Rivers Supervisor Lou Woltering said that little will change from a fire management perspective if roadless area and changed to wilderness.
"Because of the way we're managing them now, I doubt that there would be a real benefit to making them wilderness from a management standpoint," Woltering said.
But Woltering did express some concern about the difficulty in managing the smaller proposed wildernesses at Mad River Buttes and Mount Lassic. Designating an area wilderness often attracts more people, Woltering said, and slim budgets are given to the large wilderness areas, let alone small, out-of-the-way areas like the Buttes and Lassic.
Henson said that the designations will not affect the Six Rivers National Forest's plans to build fuel breaks, areas that are cleared of brush and some trees where firefighters might stop approaching fires.
Plumas and Inyo counties both oppose Boxer's Senate bill, which would also make 525 miles of river federally designated as wild and scenic. Plumas County supervisors wrote to Boxer that language that would allow motorized equipment to access the areas for fire management is "disingenuous and unacceptable."
"Too much of anything is never good," they wrote. "That also pertains to wilderness ... Our public lands must be managed wisely, not fenced off to burn another day."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 1999-2002 MediaNews Group, Inc
http://www.times-standard.com/Stories/0,1413,127%7E2896%7E683140,00.html