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Congress to Look at Protecting SoCal Wildland
Taken at Sequoia National Park, which has parts included in the bill | Photo by Allie_Caulfield via Flickr
A federal bill seeking to protect hundreds of thousands acres of California wildland will possibly be voted on in a House of Representatives committee tomorrow. The Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands will hear about the Eastern Sierra and Northern San Gabriel Wild Heritage Act, which will protect 800,000 acres of California land, including 42,133 acres within Los Angeles County.
Submitted by Representative Buck McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), H.R. 6156 would protect three areas around Los Angeles by adding the land to The Wilderness Act, which prohibits development, vehicles, permanent structures, mining or basically anything else that would alter the environment. Hiking, backpacking, horseback riding, hunting and fishing are allowed. An identical bill, S. 3069, was submitted to the Senate by Barbara Boxer.
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Magic Mountain (not theme park, but nearby) in Santa Clarita (13,709 acres), Pleasant View Ridge (28,424 acres) in the San Gabriel Mountains and Piru Creek (7 acres) in Piru off the 126 highway between Ventura and Santa Clarita are the three LA County representatives in the bill that includes land two other California counties.
Another local bill will also be heard in the same committee meeting dealing with National Forest Land in San Bernardino. The San Bernardino Biomass Use Facilitation Act would "direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain National Forest System (NFS) land in the San Bernardino National Forest, California, in exchange for the conveyance of certain non-federal land by the County of San Bernardino to the Secretary for the purpose of making available to the county land for biomass utilization facilities, biomass recycling activities, and industrial resource recovery and recycling activities."
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But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.
Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.
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