Lake County Record-Bee
Published July 14, 2005

Wilderness bill has hearing

By John Lindblom

LAKE COUNTY -- U.S. District One Congressman Mike Thompson's bill to protect some of Northern California's most outstanding wild regions moved a step closer to enactment on Thursday when it was heard for the first time by a bipartisan House subcommittee in Washington.

Thompson characterized the hearing before the 20-member House Forests and Forest Health Subcommittee as "good progress" and said the referendum, the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act (H.R. 233), could be voted on by the U.S. Senate -- where Thompson's co-sponsors Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer introduced it -- as early as next week.

"It's exciting, it's the farthest this bill has ever gone," said Thompson's press secretary Matt Gerien, alluding to a four-year campaign for acceptance of the legislation by Thompson.

In the process, Thompson has developed what Lake County Supervisor Chair Ed Robey calls "a well-balanced bill."

One of 19 representatives of the five counties affected by the proposed legislation who were in the Capitol, Robey said he made the trip to lobby subcommittee members "door-to-door" for it. He added, "I think the prospects are real good" and noted that the measure has outstanding bipartisan support.

Peter Windrem, a Lake County environmental leader who was also at the hearing, asserted, "When we have such a tremendous opportunity to conserve some of California's most special places, we should all get behind it and make it a reality."

All but four of the 24 county supervisors in the counties encompassed by H.R. 233 favor it. Rob Brown was identified by Robey as the only dissenting vote on Lake County's board.

The bill would protect 300,000 acres of public land in Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt, Napa and Del Norte counties as wilderness and preserve 21 miles of the Black Butte River as a wild and scenic river. The area includes the longest stretch of undeveloped U.S. coastline outside of Alaska.

Proponents of the measure feel this is critical to the future because in the past 20 years, they say, 700,000 acres of potential wilderness has been lost to development and destruction.

Once designated, the area covered by H.R. 233 would be closed to logging, illegal off-road vehicle use and other impactful activities. But in his campaign for the bill, Thompson was sensitive to future logging and keeping roads open.

"There were a couple of critics, but all in all I think it went well," Thompson said of the session before the subcommittee.

"A state assemblyman from Grass Valley, the northernmost part of my district, had a long list of complaints. "He mentioned that the bill would take property off the tax roles, then went through a litany of downturns, such as the fishing industry, because of this bill, which is still in the proposal stage at this point.

"An off-road racing guy said it closed roads, but a state forest service guy was there to say no it didn't. An international mountain biking representative claimed it closes 180 miles of mountain bike roads, but the Forest Service representative said it only closed 12 miles."

Also present at the bill's Washington airing from Lake County was Bill Knispel, president of the Lake County Horsemen's Association.

"It's still got to be passed by the committee and the House and passed by the Senate next week," Thompson cautioned. "There's still a long way to go."

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