This month, California 2nd District Congressman Jared Huffman released a draft legislation for his public lands bill. The idea for a bill like this has been discussed for years, and includes restoration, conservation, recreation, and natural management efforts. Huffman had several public meetings to hear comment about this draft and give the opportunity for constituents to give support or feedback. In this EcoNews Report, I spoke with Jared Huffman about his bill, and then we hear selected portions of the Eureka public comment meeting. We check in with Ryan Henson of CalWild, who discusses CalWild’s role in the bill’s construction.
The bill seeks to conserve and restore public lands, as well as improve recreation and fire management on the north coast. It expands wilderness by over 326,000 acres and designates over 450 miles of waterways as Wild & Scenic Rivers. A 700,000 acre restoration area will be designated on the South Fork Trinity-Mad River, a plan established for cleaning up illegal marijuana grow sites, and reform established for current fire management protocol. It also plans to bolster recreation by establishing the Bigfoot National Recreation Trail, the Horse Mountain Special Management Area, and several other sites, and approves construction of a visitor center in Weaverville.
The public comment meetings were held in Eureka, Crescent City, Weaverville, and Ukiah. If you would like to submit your own feedback about the bill or learn more about it, check out the links below!
To submit an edit, suggestion, or feedback for the bill email: ca02publiclands@gmail.com
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