California Wilderness Campaigns

California has 15,229,528 acres of BLM lands and 20,754,825 acres of National Forests. The last wilderness areas designated in California were in 2006: Cache Creek,Cedar Roughs, King Range, Mount Lassic, Sanhedrin, South Fork Eel River, Yuki

Bills

Riverside County

Bill title:: California Desert and Mountain Heritage Act of 2007
Bill number:: H.R. 3682/ S. 2109
Sponsors:: Rep. Mary Bono (R-CA) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Summary:: Legislation introduced to permanently protect some 191,000 acres in Riverside County as wilderness, add 31 miles of four rivers to the wild and scenic river system and expand by 5000 acres the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument. Some of the country’s most important and well-known public lands lie within Riverside county, including Joshua Tree National Park and North Fork San Jacinto River, along with Beauty Mountain, Cahuilla Mountain, and others. Riverside County stretches 210 miles across southern California, from the outskirts of Los Angeles to the Colorado River border with Arizona.
More info:: California Desert and Mountain Wilderness Campaign; California Wilderness Coalition; The Wilderness Society

Wild Heritage

Bill title:: California Wild Heritage Act
Bill number:: S. 493/H.R. 860
Sponsors:: Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA)
Summary:: Legislation introduced to permanently protect 2.4 million acres of scenic wilderness throughout the state and designate more than 20 rivers as wild and scenic, ensuring clean water, free flowing rivers, and quality fish and wildlife habitat. It would protect some of the state’s most extraordinary wild lands, including Eagle Peak – an area critical to San Diego’s water supply, and Duncan Canyon – home to one of the best old-growth groves in the Tahoe National Forest. The measure would also protect the Clavey River, one of only four remaining free-flowing rivers in the Sierra Nevada.
More info:: California Wilderness Coalition; The Wilderness Society

Campaigns

Eastern Sierra Nevada

Summary:: A campaign to designate as wilderness some 40,000 acres of the proposed Hoover Wilderness Addition in the eastern Sierras, add about 640 acres to the Emigrant Wilderness area, and provide wild and scenic status and protection to 24 miles of the Amargosa River. A glaciated landscape of great scenic beauty, the area is dominated by volcanic ridges and peaks interspersed with numerous lakes and meadows. The threatened yellow-legged frog and Yosemite toad are found here, as are bald eagles, wolverines, black bears, and mountain lions.
More info:: California Wilderness Coalition; The Wilderness Society

San Gabriel Mountains/LA Basin

Summary:: Efforts underway to protect extensive portions of the Angeles and western section of the San Bernardino National Forests, including the scenic San Gabriel Mountains through wilderness and wild and scenic river designations. The national forest land of the San Gabriels is the nation’s largest “urban” forest, making up 80 percent of Los Angeles County’s open space and within an hour’s drive of some 10 million people. Home to bighorn sheep, bobcats, mountain lions, and sensitive species like the California spotted owl, desert tortoise, and ferruginous hawk, the region includes steep, rocky ridges, numerous canyons, and scenic waterfalls.
More info:: Sierra Club; Friends of the River

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