Finger Lake, Hoover Wilderness, California                                                                               (Mike Painter)

February 18, 2015

Dear CalUWild Friends & Supporters-

There are a few items this month, and most of them are relatively short. But for being a short month as well, it’s a good one for national monuments in California (see Items 2-4, below) and elsewhere.

Last week, Pres. Obama announced the designation of the Pullman District in Chicago, and will dedicate it tomorrow. You may read about the area’s interesting background in this New York Times article. Just as I was getting ready to send this Update out, the news came in that at the dedication ceremony the President will announce the designation of Browns Canyon in Colorado as a national monument. (We wrote about the campaign to protect it in our June 2013 Update, and we’ll probably have more details next month.) In addition Mr. Obama is expected to announce the designation of the Honouliuli World War II internment camp in Hawaii, according to an article in today’s Los Angeles Times.

With the 114th Congress having started, we expect America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, the statewide Utah wilderness bill, to be re-introduced in the next few months. We are gearing up to kick off the cosponsor drive, so stay tuned!

Again, thank you to everyone who made a contribution over the last couple of months. Contributions are continuing to come in, but if you haven’t contributed yet please consider doing so. Although we run a tight ship, we have expenses every month that need to be covered. Please print out this form and send it in with your gift. Thanks.

Most of all, though, thanks for your interest in our wilderness and public lands here in the West.

Best wishes,
Mike

IN UTAH
1.   Confirmed: Wolf Killed in Utah Had Been at the Grand Canyon

IN THE PRESS & ELSEWHERE
8.   Links to Articles and Other Items of Interest

IN UTAH
1.   Confirmed: Wolf Killed in Utah Had Been at the Grand Canyon

Last week, officials with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announced that genetic tests showed that the wolf killed in the Tushar Mountains in Utah in December was the same female wolf seen at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in the months before, the first seen there in about 70 years. The wolf had been collared in January 2014 near Yellowstone National Park.

Wolves are protected under the Endangered Species Act, but Utah state officials have consistently spoken out against tolerating any wolves in the state. It is not clear whether this attitude played any part in the killing. The hunter claims he thought he was shooting a coyote. Coyotes have no protection in Utah, which offers a $50 bounty for each documented coyote kill.

The New York Times published an op-ed piece, High Noon for the Gray Wolf, last month.

IN CALIFORNIA
2.   Sen. Feinstein Re-Introduces Mojave Desert Bill

We reported in our November 2014 Update that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) would be reintroducing her California Desert Conservation and Recreation Act in this Congress. Last week she did just that, cosponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D).

According to Sen. Feinstein’s press release, the bill would:

We’re happy to see BLM’s National Conservation Lands expand with creation of the two national monuments. And of course, we’re thrilled with the wilderness designations and national park and preserve expansions. We’re not happy with the inclusion of the five OHV recreation areas in the bill, because OHVs damage the landscape and affect wildlife, riders frequently trespass into restricted areas, and we’re big believers in “quiet” recreation. However, these areas already exist; the bill isn’t creating new ones. The bill also releases a two Wilderness Study Areas included within the monument boundaries, which would leave them open to vehicular access. Finally the details of the energy provisions and land exchanges remain to be seen.

As we reported last November, though, Sen. Feinstein said that if Congress didn’t act on the legislation she would introduce, she would ask Pres. Obama to designate the monuments himself using the Antiquities Act. Given the makeup of the Congress, it’s a possibility that the bill won’t move. So we’ll have to see how the situation develops.

3.   Rep. Mike Thompson, Sens. Boxer & Feinstein Re-Introduce
          Berryessa Snow Mountain Bill
          (ACTION ITEM)

Early in the month, Rep. Mike Thompson (D-5) introduced legislation (H.R. 761) to create the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein introduced companion legislation in the Senate (S.393). Similar legislation has been introduced in the last two Congresses.

The bill would designate a national monument stretching about 100 miles north from Lake Berryessa in the Inner Coast Range, just northeast of the Bay Area. Covering parts of Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Solano, and Yolo counties, it’s an area rich in biodiversity, geology, and recreational opportunities. It totals over 350,000 acres.

You may read more details here on Rep. Thompson’s website and here on Tuleyome’s.

At the same time as the legislation is in Congress, Rep. Thompson and Sens. Boxer and Feinstein have been encouraging Pres. Obama to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate the national monument. As we reported last month Interior Secretary Sally Jewell visited the area to get a first-hand look at the proposal. Participants at the public meeting afterward expressed overwhelming support for a designation. Many local governments, businesses, and conservation and recreation organization (including the Blue Ribbon Coalition) have publicly supported the proposal. You can, too, by sending Pres. Obama and Secty. Jewell an email, a postcard, or a letter. Their contact information is:

And don’t forget to thank Rep. Thompson, Sen. Boxer, and Sen. Feinstein for their efforts to protect the area, as well. Click on the links below for:

And this just in: Yesterday, the California State Assembly passed a joint resolution calling on the President to designate the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. The resolution now goes to the State Senate for a vote.

4.   Rep. Anna Eshoo Introduces Coastal Monument Expansion Bill
          (ACTION ITEM)

Last week, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-18) introduced a bill to add the Santa Cruz Redwoods Public Lands to the California Coastal National Monument. The 5,800-acre parcel is along the Pacific Ocean in Santa Cruz County near the town of Davenport and was historically used as dairy and farmland. A series of transactions involving the Save the Redwoods League and the Trust for Public Land brought it to the US BLM and a small part to the California State Park System. Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt helped launch the introduction of the campaign at a meeting in Santa Cruz.

This would be the second onshore addition to the monument, which stretches the entire 1,100-mile coastline of California, covering the offshore rocks and islands. Last March, Pres. Obama added the Stornetta Public Lands in Mendocino County to the monument, as we reported. Again it appears that supporters are pursuing a two-track approach, both congressional and presidential.

Please send Rep. Eshoo and Pres. Obama message of thanks and/or support.

Full contact information for Rep. Eshoo may be found here.

Contact info for Pres. Obama is in Item 3, above.

IN ALASKA
5.   Wilderness Designation Recommended
          For the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
          (ACTION ITEM)

The US Fish & Wildlife Service, over the last several years, has been revising the Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which makes up the northeast portion of Alaska. Toward the end of January, FWS released its final plan, and the preferred alternative recommends that 12 million acres of the Refuge be designated as wilderness, including the Coastal Plain.

The Coastal Plain has long been the focus of conservation efforts, as it is the calving grounds for large caribou herds and home to many other wildlife species. The Plain is sacred to the indigenous Gwich’in people. However, the oil industry has also long wanted to drill there. We reported last month that California Rep. Jared Huffman (D-2) had introduced a wilderness bill for the Plain. The FWS plan recommendation includes that protection and more for the Refuge. About 7 million acres are already Wilderness under the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.

The plan also recommends adding four rivers to the National Wild & Scenic Rivers System.

President Obama and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell endorsed the plan, which will guide management of the Refuge for the next 15 years. Once the plan becomes final, the wilderness recommendation will be forwarded to Congress.

The announcement was immediately controversial. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R), who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, attached an amendment to the Keystone Pipeline bill to remove protections from almost 12 million acres of wilderness study areas if Congress doesn’t act within a year to formally designate them as wilderness. Given the gridlock in Congress lately and its anti-environment stance, it doesn’t take much to see that these areas would disappear very quickly just through delaying tactics. The Amendment did not receive the 60 votes needed to close debate and was defeated.

Please let Pres. Obama and Secty. Jewell know you appreciate their actions, using the contact information in Item 3, above.

IN NEVADA
6.   BLM Las Vegas Planning
          Comment Period Extended
          DEADLINE: March 9, 2015
          (ACTION ITEM)

In last month’s Update we wrote about Resource Management Plan revisions in the Las Vegas and Pahrump Field Offices in Nevada. The comment deadline has been extended to March 9. So if you haven’t sent anything in, it’s not too late!

In addition to our brief talking points last month, more detailed information about some of the areas mentioned for protection may be found here.

Next month we’ll have suggestions for comments on the Douglas County, Nevada BLM planning process.

IN GENERAL
7.   Job Announcement: Los Padres ForestWatch

Our friends at Los Padres ForestWatch are looking for a Director of Membership & Giving, to oversee all aspects of its membership, fundraising, and event planning activities. Details here.

IN THE PRESS & ELSEWHERE
8.   Links to Articles and Other Items of Interest

If a link is broken or you can’t access an article for some reason, please send me an email.

Articles in High Country News

An article on opposition by Fish & Wildlife Service biologists to the proposal to raise Shasta Dam, which is also opposed by Native American tribes and many conservation groups.

Video links

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