Eureka Times-Standard
Published July 15 , 2005

Wilderness bill aired on the hill

By John Driscoll

A house resources subcommittee on Thursday weighed whether 300,000 more acres in Northern California should be designated wilderness.

The bill's author, Rep. Mike Thompson, pointed to broad bi-partisan support for a bill that's been rewritten several times to address concerns about wildfires, roads and inholdings.

The bill by the St. Helena Democrat was written for the Senate by Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein of California.

The Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health grilled U.S. Interior Department Deputy Assistant Secretary Chad Calvert, and U.S. Forest Service Deputy Chief Joel Holtrop on the bill's effects.

No legal roads would be closed due to HR 233, they said, and firefighters would be allowed to use equipment to fight fires in the new wilderness area, unlike others previously designated.

"This would provide us additional tools we wouldn't usually have for wilderness," Holtrop said. He added, however, that firefighters may be inclined to take a more gentle approach to protect their wilderness qualities.

The Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act would make existing public lands wilderness. Among the additions are 29,000 acres to the half-billion acre Trinity Alps Wilderness and 26,000 acres to the Yolla Bolly Middle-Eel Wilderness. Areas in the King Range, Mad River Buttes and Mt. Lassic would also be deemed wilderness.

Some 40,000 acres in Del Norte County would become wilderness, drawing strong opposition from Del Norte Supervisor Chuck Blackburn. The county board has voted three times against the bill. Blackburn said the government already own about 80 percent of the county.

He said while wilderness can be a boon to tourism, heavy winter rains limit that season to a few months. Blackburn asked that the Del Norte additions be removed from the bill and accused Thompson of shunning the whole board, meeting instead with individual members.

"We haven't been part of the loop," Blackburn said. "Our community needs its tradition and cultures protected."

Congressman Sam Aanestad, R-Grass Valley, blamed Del Norte County's economic malaise on "broken promises" from government land acquisitions like Redwood National Park.

"The people of that community want to know when enough is enough," Aanestad said.

No land would be acquired as part of the bill.

The motorized recreation advocacy group the Blue Ribbon Coalition and the International Mountain Bicycling Association testified in opposition to the bill. Del Norte County Supervisor Martha McClure and Mendocino County Supervisor Jim Wattenburger testified in support.

Thompson, reached by phone, said critics' claims don't jibe with how the bill has been changed over and over to reflect concerns from different communities.

"If it doesn't pass it's going to be because of politics," Thompson said.

He pointed to broad bi-partisan support from communities, businesses, conservation organizations and politicians including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as evidence he'd addressed issues.

Humboldt County Supervisor John Woolley said testimony against the bill appeared to be couched with worries about further acquisition -- which would not take place.

"So much of it was dealing with history as opposed to current reality," Woolley said.

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