Congress Passes Wild Rivers and Wilderness Bill

Published on Mar 25, 2009 - 4:28:16 PM

By: Friends of the River

SACRAMENTO, March 25, 2009 - The House of Representatives today approved by a vote of 285 to 140 a bill that places 105 miles of California rivers to the National Wild & Scenic Rivers System. HR146, the Omnibus Public Lands Protection Act, also protects as Wilderness more than 750,000 acres of public lands in the state.

Overall, the legislative package includes 150 bills that protects more than a thousand miles of Wild & Scenic Rivers and two million acres of Wilderness nationwide. Since it has already been approved by the Senate, the bill now goes to President Obama's desk for his signature.

River conservationists were ecstatic about the bill's passage. "This is the largest addition of California rivers protected in the national system since 1981," said Steve Evans, Conservation Director of Friends of the River. "It is also the most diverse group of rivers in the state to be protected," he said.

The bill protects as Wild & Scenic Rivers portions of eight streams in the state, including the Owens River headwaters in the eastern Sierra Nevada, Cottonwood Creek in the White Mountains, Amargosa River in the Mojave Desert, Piru Creek in the northern San Gabriel Mountains, and the North Fork San Jacinto River, Palm Canyon Creek, and Bautista Creek in the San Jacinto Mountains. In addition, the wilderness component of the package protects the headwaters of several rivers, including the West Walker, Owens, Santa Clara, and San Jacinto.

The bill not only protects rivers that provide spectacular public opportunities for hiking, backpacking, fishing, and hunting, it also protects habitat for many rare and endangered fish and wildlife species, including the Paiute cutthroat trout, Yosemite toad, Amargosa vole, and mountain yellow-legged frog. Many of the streams also provide clean drinking water for use downstream.

The California bills included in the omnibus lands package represents true bi-partisan support for river and land protection. Representative Buck McKeon and Representative Mary Bono-Mack, two California Republicans who introduced the original bills to protect wild rivers and lands in their districts, worked closely with California's Democratic Senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein to secure the legislation's passage through Congress.

All of the California streams protected in the legislative package were first nominated by Friends of the River and then determined eligible for federal protection by the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Wild & Scenic designation will protect the streams from new dams and ensure that the public lands through which they flow are managed by the respective federal agencies to protect the rivers' outstanding natural and cultural values. Within three years after designation, the federal agencies will develop and implement and comprehensive river management plan for each stream to ensure their permanent protection.

The eight California streams protected in the omnibus package joins a prestigious list of streams totaling more than 2,000 miles protected in the National Wild & Scenic Rivers System since 1968, including portions of the Smith River, Klamath River, Scott River, Salmon River, Trinity River, Eel River, Van Duzen River, American River, Feather River, Tuolumne River, Merced River, Kings River, Kern River, Big Sur River, Sisquoc River, and Sespe Creek. All these streams represent California's fast-disappearing heritage of free flowing rivers and outstanding natural and cultural values.

Website: www.friendsoftheriver.org

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