PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA WILDERNESS COALITION Vol. XL Berkeley, Ca. October 22, 2016 No. 1 Wild lands saved COALITION FORMS From the Mar/Apr 1976 The California Wilder- activities; protection on to save any or all of these Wilderness Record, ness Coalition has as its which is given units of unprotected wild lands. Vol. 1, No. 1 single goal the preserva- the National or California tion of all remaining wil- (state) Wilderness Preser- The Coalition will pull California Wilderness has derness lands in Califor- vation Systems. together not only individ- just gained a new friend. nia. It estimates that nearly uals and environmental The California Wilderness 14 million acres of wild The remaining 12 mil- groups, but any scientific, Coalition has been formed land still exist (14 percent lion acres – lands which educational, or civic orga- by a group of wilderness of the state’s total area) are just as valuable and nization that is interested conservationists con- under the jurisdiction of also widely used for recre- in wilderness or a particu- cerned with the need for a federal and state agencies. ation, inspiration, scientif- lar wilderness area. In ad- stepped-up level of activi- However, only 1.9 million ic study, wildlife habitat, dition, the Coalition will ty on behalf of wilderness acres of this wild land has and other wilderness uses include those who have an in the state. Before now, legal protection against – are open to and threat- economic interest in unde- no statewide group has road-building, motorized ened by development. veloped land: manufactur- focused solely on wilder- vehicles, logging and oth- Wilderness lovers will ers and retailers of back- ness preservation. er wilderness-destroying need to be well-organized continued on p. 2 Wilderness Bill Signed From the Sept/Oct 1984 designates 677,600 acres areas are in southern Cali- ers were released. Wilderness Record of Yosemite National Park fornia, also without many and 736,980 acres of Se- commercial trees. Conservation sought There was no ceremony, quoia and Kings Canyon protection for some of the The California Wilderness Coalition has not even a press release National Park as wilder- As a result of the bill, new wilderness areas for worked for the past 40 years to preserve from the White House, but ness. Tied to the wilder- a wilderness environmen- decades. Areas like Ansel President Reagan signed ness bill was wild and sce- tal impact statement is Adams (San Joaquin), the wild spaces such as Hayfork Creek in the California Wilderness nic river classification for no longer needed before Siskiyous, Snow Moun- Northwestern California. Act into law on Septem- 83 miles of the Tuolumne timber sales or other ac- tain, and Granite Chief ber 28th. River and the establish- tivities can proceed in have had individuals and ment of a Mono Basin Na- over 3.4 million acres of groups continually work- Although the Reagan tional Scenic Area. “released” roadless lands. ing for their preservation Administration opposed since before the passage the bill the past four years, Three “planning ar- Due to this legislation, of the Wilderness Act strong bipartisan support eas” are protected for four the Forest Service will twenty years ago. apparently convinced the years while the Forest Ser- have to change their com- President to sign. The bill vice completes wilderness puter data used in devel- The new challenge for was 600,000 acres small- studies and Congress re- oping their forest plans. conservationists now is er than that previously considers the areas. About This may cause a delay in to find means of protect- passed by the House, the 1.7 million acres of land the release of draft plans ing important “released” result of effort by Senator remains in “further plan- of six to eight months. areas and participating in Pete Wilson, a fellow Re- ning areas” that will be the study of the further 2016 marks the 40th anni- the look and feel of the publican. studied during the forest The Senate compro- planning areas. Also, the versary of the founding of original edition for your planning process. Eighty mise eliminated 19 areas designation of wilderness the California Wilderness reading pleasure. We hope The legislation protects percent of the acreage of previously approved for study areas managed by Coalition. On Oct 22nd, you enjoy. 25 new wilderness areas these areas is in the Inyo wilderness designation by the Bureau of Land Man- current and former board and 14 additions to exist- and Los Padres national the House and reduced in agement, including the members, staff, and sup- Read about our honor- ing wilderness area total- forests, however, regions size others. Some of these King Range and the Cal- porters gathered to cele- ees on page 2. ing 1.8 million acres of with little commercial areas were remanded to ifornia Desert, has only brate the many successes national forest land. It also timber. Many of the other further planning, but oth- just begun. over that stretch and con- We are deeply grateful template what the next 40 to the generous sponsors might bring. of our 40th Anniversary CALIFORNIA WILDERNESS COALITION celebration; they are listed MAIL This special edition on page 4. 1814 Franklin Street, Suite 510 INDICIA Wilderness Record is a Oakland, CA 94612 re-printing of many of the HERE IF articles commemorating APPLICABLE major victories over that time period. The Wilder- ness Record, for much of the California Wilderness Coalition’s history, was the primary method of communicating the orga- nization’s work. While much of our communica- tion has moved online, we thought it fitting to revive Page 2 Wilderness Record October, 2016 2016 Phil Burton Award Winner: Honoring the California Ryan Henson Wilderness Coalition’s Founders The Phil Burton Wil- Ryan, currently Cal- Omnibus Public Land The founders of the we are also celebrating the Morrill, Phil Farrell, Bob derness Award is given Wild’s Senior Policy Di- Management Act adding California Wilderness Co- visionaries who got it all Schneider, and Jeff Bar- to someone who has sig- rector, has built a repu- 779,800 wilderness acres. alition had the vision to started. Without that first nickol for their vision of nificant accomplishments tation across the state as More recently, Ryan was create an organization to step, none of what came community-empowered in wilderness protection. a wilderness expert and instrumental in CalWild’s champion the wild lands after would have been environmental advocacy. This year’s winner is a conservationist willing major victories in the des- of California. On Cal- possible. A very special friend and colleague to and eager to meet with ert: the Mojave Trails, Wild’s 40th Anniversary, thanks to Jim Eaton, Don anyone who has worked anyone who might be in- Sand to Snow, and Castle with CalWild in the last terested in public lands Mountains National Mon- 20-plus years and abso- protection. Ryan was in- uments, and the Desert lutely deserving of such timately involved in a Renewable Energy Con- an honor: Ryan Henson. number of the greatest servation Plan (DRECP), wilderness conservation which protected 2.8 mil- achievements in the last lion acres as National 20 years including the Conservation Lands. 1997-2001 first non-gov- Jim Eaton Don Morrill Phil Farrell Bob Schneider ernmental comprehensive We are so lucky to survey of California’s have such a dedicated and ************************************* wilderness identifying 7.2 accomplishment advocate vehicle for communica- of industry and agencies million potential wilder- on our side. We raise a Coalition Forms continued from p. 1 tion. All members will will be a major responsi- ness acres, the 2006 North toast to his accomplish- be informed on the latest bility of the research pro- Coast Bill which protected ments knowing that there packing and skiing equip- events affecting wilder- grams of the CWC. Many 275,00 wilderness acres are plenty more where ment, publishers of moun- ness or proposed areas, statements given in oppo- and 21 miles of wild and those came from in the taineering and trail guides, information about specific sition to wilderness pro- scenic river, and the 2009 future. photographers, packers, areas and which groups posals are misleading or and guides. are concerned with them, completely false and need ************************************* and problems of wilder- to be exposed. Research Boring name, glorious results The main activities of ness management. Special is also needed on the sci- the CWC can be grouped alerts will also be sent out entific values of wilder- The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 into four general catego- as needed to inform inter- ness, the importance of protects vast stretches of wild California ries: organization, com- ested persons about hear- wild lands to plants and munication, education, ings, bills, and threats to animals (especially en- by Ryan Henson, Policy Director and research. Actual proj- wild lands. dangered species), and the ects may overlap these proper management pro- Condensed from the agement Act of 2009. in many states. These groups. Education will be grams of protected areas. Summer 2009 Wilderness The legislation protected measure were rolled into accomplished through Record over 743,000 acres (1,160 a single piece of biparti- A prime function of special publications and The California Wil- square miles) of Califor- san legislation in order to the Coalition is to orga- workshops. The Coalition derness Coalition is not Our success can be at- nia’s federal lands as wil- thwart filibuster attempts nize statewide effort for will see that background intended to replace local tributed to our grassroots derness in the eastern Sier- by anti-environmental wilderness preservation. materials on various as- groups fighting for wil- strength—bringing to- ra Nevada, Sequioa-Kings members of Congress.