A national bill that would protect more than 250,000 acres in our region passed the House of Representatives in February and moved on to the U.S. Senate where it awaits review.
Rep. Jared Huffman’s multi-faceted public lands legislation, Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation and Working Forests Act, has been passed in different iterations two other times and is now combined with other public lands conservation bills.
Regionwide, the bill would protect 259,216 acres as Wilderness and Potential Wilderness, designate 379 miles of rivers and streams as Wild & Scenic Rivers and establish and expand myriad recreational trails and opportunities. Additionally, an innovative restoration area of more than 700,000 acres would be established within the South Fork Trinity and Upper Mad River watersheds that focuses on forest resilience, fire prevention and restoration focusing on projects and prescriptions developed by members of local environmental organizations and local community members.
Mendocino, Humboldt, Del Norte and Trinity counties, located in Redwood Chapter, are the key areas of the bill’s focus, with Trinity County seeing the majority of the proposals. Due to its inclusion in a “less conservation friendly” congressional district prior to 2012, Trinity County had not been a part of any successful federal public lands legislation since the passage of the California Wilderness Bill of 1984, which established the Trinity Alps Wilderness Area.
Knowing the Biden administration would be taking office on Jan. 20, it appears congressional staff moved quickly to reintroduce and combine similar pieces of legislation to ensured their quick movement through the House for consideration in what is now a tenuous, but more favorable, atmosphere in the Senate, where the bill’s 2020 senatorial champion, Kamala Harris, now presides in her new role as the vice president and president of the Senate.
The process is looking positive with California’s newly appointed Sen. Alex Padilla recently expressing his interest in introducing a supportive bill in the Senate, in addition to the Biden administration stating its potential support for the combined package.
Sierra Club supports Huffman’s Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation and Working Forests Act. If passed by the Senate and signed by President Biden, this collection of conservation measures will be a huge step forward to securing protection for landscapes, wildlife and our natural environment.
Visit www.MountainsandRivers.org for additional information.