LAKE PIRU, Calif. – Outdoor enthusiasts, local businesses and conservation groups are praising a new bill introduced Monday in Congress to give extra protection to 245,000 acres of public land in Central California.

Sen. Kamala Harris and Representative Salud Carbajal introduced the Central Coast Heritage Protection Act. It would link up existing islands of wilderness within the Los Padres National Forest, which runs from Lake Piru north of Los Angeles up to the Monterey area.

Coralie McMillan, whose family members are sixth-generation ranchers in Shandon, says open space is a precious commodity that must be preserved.

"My husband and I are the keepers of the ranch for our children," she says. "And it's the same for the public lands - that right now we are the keepers so then we can pass it on to our children and they will to theirs."

The bill also would set aside an additional 159 miles of wild and scenic rivers and establish the 400-mile Condor National Recreational Trail, which runs the length of the Los Padres forest. The Carrizo Plain National Monument lies within the area to be given official wilderness protection.

The Trump administration is studying whether to shrink the boundaries of the monument in order to pave the way for development.

Christopher Danch, the founder of the Condor Trail Association, says the Los Padres has almost no publicly funded trail work. Most of the maintenance on 1,200 miles of trails is currently done by nonprofits.

"We're hoping that the notoriety of this trail can bring in the kinds of funding that is necessary and eventually be able to help in terms of the management of the corridor which the trail moves through," he explains.

Retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Vitali Mostovoj, a member of the Vet Voice Foundation, says veterans have a special reason for wanting public lands to remain pristine.

"We protected our country from overseas," he says. "We really love this country and want to protect our natural resources so they get passed on to future generations. Veterans coming back who have problems with post-traumatic stress syndrome need a place where they can have peace and solitude to recover."

Hans Cole is the director of environmental campaigns and advocacy at Patagonia, an outdoor clothing and gear company based in Ventura. He says the company wouldn't exist if people didn't have access to public land.

"This is really a place that we depend on for the recreation access, for the value it brings to our watershed here, and we also value the incredible biodiversity and natural beauty of the area," Cole stresses.

A new report from the Center for American Progress found that almost six percent of all consumer spending in California goes to the outdoor recreation sector, and that the average resident lives only one and a half minutes away from an outdoor recreation spot.

Matthew Sayles with the California Wilderness Coalition says, “The Los Padres is a huge generator of tourism dollars and secondary funds that pick up all the businesses that are on the outskirts of this vast amount of public land.”

He adds that the protections will better protect habitat corridors for wildlife, saying “It’s more of a linear attempt at protecting wild lands within the core center of the Los Padres National Forest, so that animals have the ability to range through further and further north within the forest without hitting development outside the wilderness boundaries.”

A similar bill was introduced in 2014 and 2015 but congressional leaders have never brought it up for a vote.


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Members of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance are supporting two moratoriums on concentrated animal feeding operations to be voted on today by the Arkansas Administrative Rules subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council.

Concentrated animal feeding operations are large agriculture facilities which keep animals confined in small spaces.

Gordon Watkins, president of the alliance, said Regulations 5 and 6 include a moratorium on swine Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations in the watershed, but Regulation 5 does not include adequate public notification requirements. He pointed out the regulation only requires a request for a permit be posted on the Department of Agriculture website.

"If someone wants to put a 10,000-animal hog-confinement facility next door to you, you'd probably like to know about that," Watkins contended. "Secondly, in order to oppose a permit -- legally -- it's a 30-day comment period, and unless you submit comments on it, you do not have standing to legally challenge a permit."

He acknowledged Regulation 6 has stronger notification requirements which include notifying nearby landowners, publishing the permit request in the local newspaper and contacting school superintendents within a 10-mile radius of the proposed facility.

The last concentrated animal feeding operation allowed near the Buffalo National River, C and H Swine, was shut down in 2019. Watkins added he is a farmer but feels the area needs to be protected.

"It's the first National River ever created in the country. It's also a state icon," Watkins stressed. "If you look at any of the literature, put out by the department of tourism to promote the state, you'll see images from the Buffalo National River. It's an economic engine to some of the poorest counties in the state."

It was discovered in 2018 the C and H swine operation contaminated the water quality in Big Creek and the Buffalo River. Today's meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m.


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CORRECTION: In the second paragraph, the term "mature forests" was replaced with language to more accurately describe the lands connected to the provided stastic. (1:53 p.m. CST, Oct. 30, 2024)

Did you check out fall colors in Wisconsin this month and wonder how old the trees are? There is a chance they are not in what's known as an "old-growth forest."

Regional voices are weighing in on a federal plan to expand these lands, to tap into their benefits. The U.S. Forest Service has gathered public input on a proposed National Old Growth Amendment, with a priority to conserve and restore these characteristics on federal lands. Only 17% of the acres within federally managed forest land falls under the category.

Jeff Niese, a Wisconsin-based forestry consultant, supports expanding the acreage, describing it as an underrepresented landscape in the Badger State.

"Foresters have a long-range perspective on managing ecosystems, not just trees," Niese explained. "We have a better concept of what we started with if we have saved all the pieces in some of our forest ecosystems and types."

Such pieces can include standing dead trees and multilayered canopies. Conservation advocates said they set the tone for more biological diversity and carbon sequestration. The amendment is expected to emphasize local solutions and Niese hopes the final plan sets aside some parcels of land where nature is in charge of the management, aside from forest supervisors. He cautioned political and economic factors can complicate efforts.

The initiative also strives to be more inclusive of tribal leaders.

Jason Schlender, executive administrator of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, sees promise in having a bigger voice.

"If it's to support wild rice restoration, or if it's to assist with deer populations, those are things that we can do based on research and based on knowledge transferred to us from an Indigenous perspective," Schlender emphasized.

As The Pew Charitable Trusts has pointed out, Schlender stressed climate change poses a threat to old-growth forests. Pew officials say among other things, the final plan should articulate a framework for establishing future generations of old-growth forests. Even in places where logging is no longer a primary threat, skeptics suggest the Forest Service has not placed enough scrutiny on the timber industry.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.


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As Election Day approaches, Oregonians and people around the country can see how their members of Congress voted on issues related to national parks.

The National Parks Action Fund's 2024 Congressional Scorecard grades members based on votes, on things like an amendment to cut park funding by 13%.

Don Barry was assistant secretary of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks in the Interior Department under President Bill Clinton, and lives in southern Oregon.

He said the state has an abundance of public lands that are important to residents, and thinks cutting the park service by 13% would be devastating.

"People move to Oregon now not to cut timber and make two-by-fours," said Barry. "They move to Oregon because of the beauty of the natural resources that are here. And so, how Congress votes on the funding for the federal land-managing agencies - the Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service - matters."

Barry said unfortunately his member of Congress, Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, received a failing grade on the scorecard.

Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Happy Valley, received a 'C.' The rest of state's representatives - all Democrats - received 'A's.'

House Republicans proposed national parks cuts in government spending negotiations to decrease the national debt.

Kristen Brengel, executive director of National Parks Action, said people across the country love visiting national parks - and so, it matters what happens to them in Congress.

"If you want to judge how a member of Congress has voted on national parks," said Brengel, "it's sort of similar to making sure the values of this member of Congress line up with your own and your family's."

The scorecard grades were based on other votes as well, including oil and gas development around certain national parks and weakening protections under the Endangered Species Act.