It looks like another California crown jewel is being created in this new wilderness bill for the North Coast, surely one of the most beautiful areas in the world.
An excerpt.
House approves North Coast wilderness bill
By David Whitney -- Bee Washington Bureau Published 12:01 am PDT Tuesday, July 25, 2006
WASHINGTON -- The House agreed to a compromise North Coast wilderness bill Monday, clearing the way on a voice vote for Senate acceptance of the deal whose centerpiece is a long coastal stretch of the King Range National Conservation Area south of Eureka.
That 42,585-acre expanse will become the "crown jewel" of the Bureau of Land Management's wilderness holdings, the agency said in supporting the legislation sponsored by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena.
Thompson's office said the deal sliced about 25,000 acres from his original legislation, bringing the total amount of federal lands under tougher wilderness protection to about 273,000 acres.
In addition to the King Range, most of the new additions are in the Mendocino and Six Rivers national forests. The bill also creates 51,000 acres for off-road vehicles and mountain biking on BLM land in the Cow Creek area of Mendocino.
Thompson said on the House floor that the legislation took five years of "exhaustive work" with Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, the state's two Democratic senators. The Senate had twice passed the larger version of the bill and now must agree to the compromise before it can go to President Bush for his signature.
"This is a collaborative effort," said Thompson, noting that commissioners in Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties were involved in the process, along with user groups, environmentalists and landowners throughout the areas.
