Scripps Howard News Service
Published Thursday, July 22, 2004

Federal bill to increase California wilderness moves forward

By David Whitney

Legislation that would turn 300,000 acres of federal forestlands into protected wilderness along California's North Coast sailed through a Senate hearing this week.

But with just a few work weeks remaining in the elections-shortened congressional session, and politicians maneuvering for every political advantage they can, it is uncertain how far the legislation will go this year.

The legislation, a spin-off from a much larger statewide wilderness bill Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., introduced more than two years ago, affects lands in the Mendocino and Six Rivers national forests and more than 90,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management forests.

All of the land is in the congressional district of Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., who joined Boxer before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for Wednesday's hearing.

Thompson said the bill is the product of four years of work that involved public meetings with communities throughout the affected areas. He said no public roads would be closed because of the legislation, and that some areas have been dropped because of concerns about forest fires.

Thompson stressed that the legislation has broad support among timber companies, agricultural interests, Indian tribes and other users.

But Don Amador, Western representative of the Idaho-based BlueRibbon Coalition, said that the legislation could close some roads to public access.

"The BlueRibbon Coalition has reviewed this proposal and finds that it has many programmatic and technical deficiencies that could result in the loss of those values that we all seek to protect," he said.

But witnesses for the Bush administration said that the bill could have the administration's approval if some changes were made.

Presiding over the hearing was Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, who has one of the lowest environmental ratings in the Senate. Even Craig complimented Boxer and Thompson for all the work they had done building local support for the measure.

"You've done your due diligence," he told them.

The legislation had languished in the Senate for more than a year after Boxer introduced it, waiting for Sen. Dianne Feinstein to weigh in with any changes before offering her endorsement.

At Wednesday's hearing, Feinstein said the modifications she sought were related to forest fire protection, including elimination of 4,000 acres of proposed wilderness because of the need for intensive thinning.

Thompson and Boxer said after the hearing that they have not given up on getting the bill through this year.

"We have a chance," said Thompson, adding that he has been promised a hearing in the House after Congress returns from its August recess.

Tim Mahony, a consultant for environmental groups backing the legislation, said the bill's chances would improve considerably if Congress returns to work after the November elections.

"I think a lot of the issues have been worked out," he said.

If enacted, the North Coast additions would be the second component of Boxer's 2.5 million-acre California Wild Heritage wilderness bill to become law. Congress approved in 2002 adding wilderness protections to some 57,000 acres of federal lands in the Big Sur area.

The proposed North Coast wilderness is in the California counties of Humboldt, Mendocino and Lake.

© Copyright 2004 by Scripps Howard News Service