Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 26, 2009
3. Watersheds –
Yubanet.com
Wilderness protection bill gets Congress' OK
The legislation gives maximum federal protection to more than 2 million acres in nine states, including more than 700,000 acres in
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Yubanet.com – 3/25/09
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
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,
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
All of the
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
http://yubanet.com/regional/Congress-Passes-Wild-Rivers-and-Wilderness-Bill.php
Wilderness protection bill gets Congress' OK
The legislation gives maximum federal protection to more than 2 million acres in nine states, including more than 700,000 acres in
By Richard Simon and Bettina Boxall
Reporting from
The bill, the first major conservation measure set to be signed by President Obama, would designate as wilderness almost as much land as was set aside during George W. Bush's entire presidency. It passed the House on Wednesday, 285 to 140, after clearing the Senate last week.
In California--which now has 14 million acres of wilderness (second only to Alaska, which has more than 57 million acres) -- the bill would protect about 700,000 additional acres from new roads and most commercial uses such as new mining, logging and energy development.
Included in the legislation is $88 million to help fund a project to return year-round flows and a prized salmon run to the
The legislation passed Wednesday is an amalgam of about 160 bills, including measures to strengthen the protection of Oregon's Mt. Hood; designate President Clinton's boyhood home in Hope, Ark., a national historic site; create a commission to plan for the 450th anniversary of the founding of St. Augustine, Fla.; and designating the River Raisin battlefield in Monroe, Mich. -- site of a bloody battle in the War of 1812 -- as a unit of the national park system.
Rep. Nick J. Rahall II (D-W.Va.), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, said at a news conference after the vote that the bill is the "most important piece of conservation legislation Congress has considered in many years."
About 428,000 acres in the Eastern Sierra would be protected, as would about 147,000 acres in Riverside County (including parts of Joshua Tree National Park) and about 85,000 acres in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks -- including the Mineral King Valley area that was the site of an environmental battle in the 1960s when the Disney company tried to build a ski resort there.
The legislation also would strengthen protections of scenic rivers, including eight in
In addition, the bill would add about 8,400 acres to the 272,000-acre
"We're ecstatic," said Sam Goldman,
The bill brought together members of opposing parties who were eager to trumpet their conservation efforts and water projects.
Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon of Santa Clarita, a conservative Republican who worked with liberal Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to push for the wilderness designation in the Eastern Sierra and
"We have some people who used to be my friends who are not happy with me, and we have some people who used to hate me who now think I'm great," he said. Showing pictures of mountains and rivers in his district, he added: "Places like this are treasures that we should try to preserve."
But the measure drew opposition from a number of congressional Republicans and business and property-rights groups, who attacked it as a land grab that would close off public land to energy production.
"If Congress and the administration are serious about jump-starting our economy, they cannot limit responsible American energy production of any kind, including oil and natural gas," said Barry Russell, president and chief executive of the Independent Petroleum Assn. of America.
The $88 million for the
So much of the river is diverted to irrigate farmland on the east side of the agriculture-rich
A chinook salmon run that once was one of the West Coast's most bountiful was wiped out after Friant Dam was built in the 1940s and most of the river's Sierra-fed flow was sent into two giant irrigation canals.
Environmentalists went to court two decades ago to get back some of the
"It's going to initiate one of the largest river restoration projects in the nation. It's a great day," said Monty Schmitt of the Natural Resources Defense Council, which has been involved in the river fight since its inception.
Under the settlement, farmers will give up some of their irrigation supplies. Altogether, more than $400 million in state and federal funds and environmental fees will be spent on restoration and water management projects to help farmers offset their irrigation losses.
Schmitt said the goal was to have spring chinook salmon swimming up the
During Wednesday's debate, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) contended that the settlement would hurt farmers. "If this Congress isn't capable of delivering water to people, perhaps we can ask the United Nations for help," he said. "Maybe they would be willing to deliver water, distribute humanitarian aid and rebuild the
But Rep. George Radanovich, a fellow Central Valley Republican, said that the settlement would resolve a years-long legal battle that threatened farmers' water supply, and that it "gives the agricultural community some control over their water future."
The new wilderness designations will be the latest additions to the 107-million acre National Wilderness Preservation System, created when President Johnson signed the Wilderness Act in 1964.
The measure's passage has emboldened environmentalists to push for even more wilderness designation.
Boxer is working to protect an additional 1.4 million acres of wilderness in
All of
All of the state's Republicans voted against it except for Rep. Mary Bono Mack of
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-lands26-2009mar26,0,1954476,full.story
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