Pasadena Star-News
Published January 09, 2004

Environmental panel seeks Latino support
Latinos encouraged to support bill

By Lisa Faught

DUARTE -- The National Hispanic Environmental Council kicked off a campaign Thursday to drum up support in the Latino community for a proposed bill granting stronger protection of rivers and wild land, including several spots in the Angeles National Forest.

The grass-roots campaign seeks to build a broad base of support among Latinos by urging civic leaders, business owners and student activists to back the bill, said Edward Navarro, a council board member.

"The stereotype is that Latinos are not interested in the environment or interested in working in the environment,' Navarro said.

But, he added, a survey found "Latinos do support it, to the tune of 81 percent.'

The bill, known as the Southern California Wild Heritage Wilderness and Wild Rivers Act, seeks to step up protection of 300 miles of river and 1.7 million acres of public wild land.

A companion bill for northern California seeks to protect another 21 miles of river and 300,000 acres of public wild land.

U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis, D-El Monte, recently reintroduced the bill in hopes it will be heard this year.

She said open space is a priority for urban neighborhoods. One example she gave was a small park in El Monte where residents had landscaped with papier mache trees and flowers.

"We need to do something to improve the environmental climate for our young people,' Solis said.

Under the bill, the rivers would be kept free-flowing and the land would be listed as wilderness, a federal designation prohibiting vehicles and bicycles. The proposed lands are already in public parks and forests.

"It's protection from development and the pressures of resource extraction,' Teresa Schilling, coordinator for California Wild Heritage Campaign. "A lot of public land ends up getting ravaged by mining and over-logging.'

Of the 1.7 million acres proposed, several spots are in the Angeles National Forest, including Condor Peak, Silver Mountain, Magic Mountain and the West Fork of the San Gabriel River.

The statewide campaign was announced at a press conference in Encanto Park in Duarte, with a number of representatives from environmental groups and City Councils.

"It's important to support business. But they've been more successful covering the land with concrete and housing than environmentalists have been at protecting it,' said Roger Hernandez, a West Covina councilman. "We need to give them a boost for the generations to come.'

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