California Desert Conservation Area Left Out of National Landscape Conservation Act
April 9th, 2008 Posted by Larry Hogue in Desert Politics, Public Lands
Afton Canyon, just one of the many spots in the California desert left out of today’s passage of the National Landscape Conservation Act.
Two hours ago, the United States House of Representatives passed the National Landscape Conservation System Act. This is good news for much of the nation’s public lands. The National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) was established under the Clinton Administration, and this act makes that system permanent, giving national park-like protections to millions of acres of public land. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz) is to be commended for championing this bill.
However, as reported in the Los Angeles Times in March and on Daniel Patterson’s blog on Monday, the act effectively removes much of the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) from the NLCS. This is a strange omission, since the CDCA has been part of the NLCS since its inception, and the Bureau of Land Management in California wants it kept in the system. This means that millions of acres of Sonoran, Mojave and Great Basin deserts in California will not enjoy the protections they’ve had for years now.
Conservationists, including the Desert Protective Council, had hoped to get the CDCA added to the House version of the bill. Daniel Patterson is working on the issue for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility on behalf of concerned BLM staff in California. He says he’s now looking to the Senate to restore the missing lands to its version of the bill, and to keep them there when the bill goes to conference with the House.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Write or call your senators (contact info for California’s delegation below) telling them the California Desert Conservation Area should be added to the Senate version of the National Landscape Conservation System Act. The Bureau of Land Management wants it, and the people of California want it.
Write or call:
Barbara Boxer (D - CA) 112 Hart Senate Office Building Washingto DC 20510 (202) 224-3553 Web form: boxer.senate.gov/contactDianne Feinstein (D - CA) 331 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510 (202) 224-3841 Web form: feinstein.senate.gov/public
It also wouldn’t hurt to contact Rep. Mary Bono Mack, thanking her for her vote in favor of the bill, and asking her to support inclusion of the CDCA when the act comes back to conference.
Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R - Palm Springs) 104 Cannon House Office Building Washington DC 20515 (202) 225-5330 Web form: Click here
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