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Preservationists want to
steal a million acres of
riding land while you sleep
By Lane Campbell
Not satisfied with having locked up over four
million acres of public land as designated wilderness, preservation groups have mounted a
multi-pronged attack on 1.71 million additional acres of Nationa l Forest. Acting on
the
preservationists '
behalf.
Congressman Morris Udall (D·Airz.)
introduced H .R . 3454 on February 9,
a bill entitled the "Endangered
American Wilderness Act of 1977 ."
36
H .R. 3454 would add almost 1.25
million acres of land to the National
Wilderness Preservation System. and
designate a nother 468,930 acres as
Wilderness Study Areas. This 'action
would close all these lands to
motorized access .
-This is not juSt anoiher wilderness
act. It is part of a multi -front assault
on many acres where trail riding is
now legal. Discounting the 405.000
acre island wilderness in Alaska , (see
table) this translates into over a
million acres in which the intent of the
1964 Wilderness Act is being severely
bent. in an attempted end run around
the normal channels of public land use planning:
An illustrative case is the proposed
"Golden Trout Wi lderness" which is.
in reality. a 240.000 -acre chunk out of
the
Kennedy
Meadows/Little
Kern/Kern Plateau area of the
Sequoia National Forest in California .
To be a bona -fide candidate for
wild erness. the land must be in a
primitive. untouched state; i.e. • no
roads. no permanent structures. no
"developments" out of touch with its
wilderness character.
Far from the intent of the original
wilderness act . this region has ber-n
recognized for almost 12 years as a d e
facto O RV use a rea. Access to the
region has been allowed along
designated roads and trai ls. not only to
O RV users. but a lso to h ikers.
horsemen and commercial pack-train
operators - user groups whose needs
are often in conflict.
Recognizing this user conflict , and
prodded by Executive Order 11644.
