Contra Costa Times
Published October 5, 2006

wilderness protected

By Editorial

The legislation, which cleared the Senate last Friday, will safeguard 42,000 acres of the "Lost Coast" in Humboldt County, which is the largest stretch of coastline in the continental United States.

Included in the bill by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Napa, are 27,000 acres in Lake County, which would be added to the federal wilderness system, banning logging, roads and mining.

The wilderness areas would be in five counties: Napa, Humboldt, Mendocino, Lake and Del Norte. This area is mostly rural today, but in the future population growth is likely to spread. That is why it is so important today to set aside large tracts of land before it becomes too politically and economically costly to do so.

Under the 1964 Wilderness Act, wilderness areas allow people to visit but not remain. Mechanized equipment, including chainsaws, power tools and even bicycles are not allowed, except to fight fires.

As part of a trade-off in Congress to reach agreement on wilderness, the bill stipulates that 51,000 acres of Cow Mountain in Mendocino and Lake counties should be managed for off-road vehicles and mountain biking.

House Resources Committee Chairman Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, helped negotiate an agreement on the measure by working with off-road enthusiasts and other potential opponents to wilderness designations.

Reaching an agreement, or at least no strong objections, among environmentalists, recreation enthusiasts and the timber industry on wilderness legislation is no easy task. Thanks to a willingness by different interests to work together, Northern California< will have 426 more square miles of protected wilderness

The bill is the first California wilderness measure since 57,000 acres were designated along the Big Sur coast and nearby areas four years ago and, we hope, will not be the last one. There is still a need to set aside a lot more wild lands in California before it is too late.

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