Cleveland National Forests Needs Protection From Mounting Threats Of Highways, Power Plants, And Sprawl
By Robin Everett

Rising out of a sea of urban sprawl, the Trabuco District of Cleveland National Forest is the last bastion of true wilderness in Orange County. Some 175,000 acres of wild lands encompassing the Santa Ana and Santa Margarita Mountains are home to hundreds of miles of trails and more than 20 threatened and endangered species.

Despite long, hot summers, the forest's meadows are full of wildflowers and oak trees, and its rugged hills are decorated with Jeffrey and Coulter pine trees. Each year, millions of Southern California residents escape from the city to hike, bike, picnic, and camp in the Cleveland National Forest.

And each year seems to bring more and more threats to this northernmost part of the Cleveland National Forest.

San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) and the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD) want to run 500,000-volt power lines through proposed wilderness areas in the forest. Massive 190 foot towers would mar views of the forest and require the construction of access roads. These roads would bring increased fire risk to the district, and the towers and lines themselves would be a new hindrance to firefighters.

The Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District and a Nevada company are trying to build a hydroelectric power plant that would drown beautiful and wild Morrell Canyon. At night, when electricity rates are cheap, water would be pumped up the mountain into a reservoir in Morrell Canyon. During the day, when the rates are high, the water would be pumped back down the mountain to create power. That difference in rates enriches the Nevada company's bottom line even though the project would actually use more energy than it generates.

As if these two projects weren't bad enough, plans are being developed for a new toll road to parallel the 91 freeway and connect cheap housing in Riverside County with job centers in Orange County. A number of the alternatives would put the toll road through our national forest. A tunnel under the forest has even been proposed, though its prohibitive cost makes it unlikely. Rather than harming our forest further by building this road, planning authorities should stop building suburbs far from jobs and look at alternatives to a road through the forest.

The Trabuco District of Cleveland National Forest is threatened on all sides, and it is up to us to protect it. We have a unique opportunity to significantly influence the direction in which the Forest Service governs the land. The Forest Service is developing a new forest plan, and will be accepting public comments early next year. Please join the Sierra Club's new Southern California Forest Campaign to learn how you can help protect and restore one of Orange County's last truly wild places.