“CLICK YOUR WAY” TO TELL YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES: VOTE “NO” ON “WILDERNESS BILL” NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA LAND GRAB — ITS QUICK AND EASY TO DO
The U.S. House of Representatives will soon vote on Congressman Jared Huffman’s bill to create 260,000 acres of new designated-wilderness areas in Northwest California, adding more barriers to active forest management on thousands of acres of federal lands. We continue to think this bill is a bad idea as Californians suffer from wildfires, blackouts and smoke. If you agree, send an urgent message to your federal representatives and the White House by clicking here.
At a time when public lands should be managed to reduce wildfire risks, the Huffman/Harris bill, HR 2250, creates eight new designated wilderness areas and expands eight existing wilderness areas. It also sets aside 379 miles of additional lands under the “wild and scenic rivers” designation. It also creates a 730,000 acre South Fork Trinity-Mad River “restoration area” on the west side of the Shasta Trinity National Forest, and the Mad River Ranger District on the Six Rivers National Forest.
We are concerned about this bill because it:
- Legally prohibits forest management on the designated wilderness areas.
- Creates new land management designations that could threaten forest access.
- Does nothing to support sustainable timber harvests that support California jobs and rural communities.
- Provides no assurances the promised “restoration” and fire-mitigation work will actually happen.
The Forest Service already has policies in place to reduce fuels on fire-prone forests, and to support local economies through sustainable timber harvests and other vegetation management projects. Instead of creating more wilderness areas, Congressman Huffman and Senator Harris should help reduce fire risks – and create more jobs in our communities – by giving the Forest Service more tools, resources, and flexibility to do more forest management projects, more quickly.
If you think this wilderness bill is a bad idea at the wrong time, please take a moment and click here to send a message to your federal representatives and the President. Tell them it’s time for real solutions that reduce fire risks and put Californians back to work on federal land.