Subject: Boxer/McKeon Wilderness Bill - ACTION NEEDED
> Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:46:12 -0700
As you might already know, Senator Boxer and Representative McKeon introduced the Eastern Sierra and San Gabriel Wild
Heritage Act, H.R. 6156 in the House and S. 3069 in the Senate last May.
This bill has been in the works for quite some time and over the last two years many stakeholders have met with and worked with
Congressman McKeon to make the bill more reasonable and workable. However, recent amendments to the bill are totally
unreasonable and contrary to the previous discussions with his staff. Among the changes are additional inappropriate wilderness
expansions in the White Mountains, expansion and Congressional designation of the Ancient Bristlecone Forest, and the
designation of the entire length of the north fork and main fork of Cottonwood Creek as a Wild and Scenic River.
Almost all of the White Mountains north of the Inyo/Mono County line is to be designated as wilderness in the original bill. The latest
amendments include wilderness designation for the entire Cottonwood Basin including the Eva Belle Mine all the way along
Crooked Creek to the Inyo/Mono County line.
Although some of the roads are cherry stemmed into the proposed wilderness, it would adversely affect many forms of recreation
traditionally occurring in the area including camping, hunting, and rockhounding. The expansion of the Ancient Bristlecone Forest
would eliminate
rockhounding in several key locations and possibly eliminate traditional motorized access used for hunting and four wheeling.
If this legislation is enacted, it will eliminate motorized access on the Furnace Creek Road. The Furnace Creek Road is a
spectacular four wheel-drive route that begins just inside California near Dyer, Nevada. The route has spectacular scenery and
stretches into the White Mountains to Tres Plumas Meadow, a beautiful meadow at 10,500 feet with the best backcountry
recreation and deer hunting in the White Mountains. The road was featured as one of the best routes in Roger Mitchell's 1969
publication 'Inyo/Mono Jeep Trails'.
During the development of the Inyo National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan, the Furnace Creek Road was a topic
of considerable discussion. During the process there was a collaborative workgroup made up of representatives from a very
diverse group of public interests. The workgroup concluded with a consensus agreement that the Furnace Creek Road would
remain open for motorized use and in return other areas would be recommended for wilderness designation in the Forest Plan.
Unfortunately, the very same environmental representatives, the Forest Service, and Senator Boxer's and Congressman
McKeon's staff refuse to honor that commitment.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
The good folks at Pirate 4X4.com have offered to help us effectively oppose this ill-conceived and unfair legislation. The Pirate
4X4 website
has put up a letter generator which will allow you to generate a letter to Senator Boxer and Representative McKeon with very little
effort. You simply
fill in the blanks and type in a short personal note and then click on the 'submit' button. It should only take you five minutes or so to
generate
your letter and it would really help defeat the bill. If we are able to generate 2500 letters, our friends at Blue Ribbon Coalition have
offered to
print them and hand-deliver them to the Senate Natural Resources Committee. That would really be a big deal! The letter
generator is located at
http://www.pirate4x4.com/letters/
PLEASE SUBMIT A LETTER AND PASS THIS MESSAGE ON TO ANY FRIENDS OR ASSOCIATES THAT SUPPORT PUBLIC
ACCESS TO PUBLIC LANDS.
New Legislation form Boxer/McKeon This could be a huge loss of access to Public Land
|
Copyright 2009 Don Alexander
Trail Indexes
Click on a Link
San Bernardino National
Forest CONTACTS
Supervisor's Office
602 S. Tippecanoe Ave.
San Bernardino, CA 92408
(909) 382-2600 (Voice)
(TDD/TTY dial 7-1-1)
Arrowhead Ranger Station
(909) 382-2782
Barton Flats Visitor Center
(909) 794-4861 Summer
Season Only
Big Bear Ranger Station &
Discovery Center
(909) 382-2790
Idyllwild Ranger Station
(909) 382-2921
Lytle Creek Ranger Station
(909) 382-2851
Mill Creek Ranger Station
(909) 382-2882
Santa Rosa and San Jacinto
Mountains National
Monument
(760) 862-9984
PERMENENTLY CLOSED TRAILS AND ROADS LIST
CLICK HERE
TEMPORARILY CLOSED TRAILS AND ROADS LIST
CLICK HERE
What you can do!
Click HERE!
IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS FOR YOUR INFORMATION
CLICK ON THE DOCUMENT NAME TO DOWNLOAD OR OPEN
In the coming months, we will post articles offering opinions
about these documents and how you can use them and/or their
contents to keep access to the San Bernardino National Forest.
For now, continuing to use the land and your vehicles in a
resonsible manner is the most important tool we have.
LINKS TO IMPORTANT
INFORMATION WEB SITES
Boxer/McKeon Wilderness Bill - ACTION NEEDED
|
ACTION
NEEDED
ITEMS