Los Angeles County Endorses Bill
| October
cast a calm golden glow over the peaks and canyons of the dazzling California
desert. But no autumnal calm reigned elsewhere in desert events: decisive
action occurred on both east and west coasts for desert preservation. On
October 8, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors endorsed the California
Desert Protection Act. In Washington, D.C. on October 16, the House Desert
bill, H.R. 2929, was reported out of the full Interior Committee to the House
of Representatives.
Los Angeles County Joins the Cause By the October 8 3 - 2 vote of its Supervisors to endorse the desert bill, Los Angeles became the 15th California county to support the far-seeing preservation legislation first introduced in Congress by California Senator Alan Cranston in 1986. The Senate bill, now S. 21, would establish three new national parks in the California Desert. Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Monuments would become parks, with boundaries expanded, and an entirely new Mojave National Park would be established. The bill, would also designate 77 separate Bureau of Land Management wilderness areas in remote mountainous areas of the desert. The House bill, H.R. 2929, mostly similar, would give national monument status to the Mojave.While the City council of the city of Los Angeles has supported the desert bill since the first Senate hearings in 1987, the County had until now not yet acknowledged the need for additional parks and wilderness in desert areas that are increasingly impacted by intense recreational and commercial pressures from the populations centers of southern California. The October 3 affirmative vote followed an eloquent presentation to the Board by California Desert Protection League director Elden Hughes. There were also opposition presentations by special interest groups such as off-road vehicle users, cattle grazers and miners, who wish to continue their present nearly unrestricted access to the desert's too fragile resources. The other counties that have voted for the bill are Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Marin, Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Santa Barbara, San Mateo, Sacramento, San Joaquin, San Diego, Napa, Placer, and Monterey. 34 California cities have also endorsed desert preservation, including several major cities outside the above counties, such as Fresno and Riverside. These cities and counties represent the majority of California's population, about 60 percent. In addition, 118
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conservation groups in California and across the nation have
united in the California Desert Protection League to promote the desert bill,
and 1600 academicians nationwide have endorsed the bill, including 136
scientists at UCLA and UC Berkeley alone.
Markup Sends Desert Bill to House Floor The successful October 16 markup of H.R. 2929 is the farthest the desert bill has even gone through the Congressional processes in its nearly six years. The Interior Committee adopted all the suggestions for minor changes (mostly technical adjustments) brought to it by Rep. Rick Lehman (D- CA), chairman of the desert oversight subcommittee that conducted the Oct. 1 subcommittee markup as well as hearings Sept. 16, just one month earlier.Republicans on the committee failed in several attempts to offer amendments. Nevada's Barbara Vucanovich called for a study of some 50 desert areas by the Bureau of Mines. Rep. Lehman countered that such an amendment was really a vote on the bill; the Committee must oppose the amendment if it wanted a desert bill this Congress. The amendment failed 26 - 16. Also voted down was an attempt by Montana's Ron Marlenee to permit hunting and trapping in the Mojave National Monument and an effort by Utah's James Hansen to extend grazing privileges. The bill's emergence from Committee virtually unscathed is a success for desert activists. The broad statewide support for preservation -- as symbolized by the Los Angeles endorsement -- surely influenced legislators. In addition, the support of Interior Committee chairman George Miller (D-CA) was crucial; during the October 16 markup, Rep. Miller was a strong champion and vigorously defended the bill against attack. Sierra Club's chief Washington desert lobbyist Debbie Sease was happy about the rapid progress of the bill: "When Representatives Lehman and Levine reintroduced the bill this July, they declared that the train was leaving the station and pledged to move the legislation quickly. In less than three months they've held a hearing, moved the bill through subcommittee and full committee, and now we fully expect it will pass the House within a few weeks." WHAT YOU CAN DO: Once the House of Representatives passes the desert bill, the pressure will be on Senator John Seymour to fulfil his early promises of help for the desert. He has not yet taken any action to support his words! It's time to remind Senator Seymour NOW that the desert bill needs his real support. Please write him a short letter now at: Senate Office Bldg., Washington DC 20510. Questions on how to help? Please contact Vicky Hoover, Sierra Club, 730 Polk St. San Francisco, CA 94109 (415)923-5527. -- Vicky Hoover |
