WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today testified before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests on the California Desert and Mountain Heritage Act, bipartisan legislation that will protect and conserve approximately 200,000 acres of pristine land in Riverside County.

Senator Boxer told the Committee, “Working with my colleagues, Representative Mary Bono Mack, who represents the areas included in this bill, and Senator Dianne Feinstein, my Senate cosponsor, I have put together a bill that protects some of the last wild places in Riverside County, one of the fastest growing counties in California.

“This bill would create four new wilderness areas and expand six existing wilderness areas. It would designate segments of four rivers as wild and scenic and add four parcels to the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument. The total scope of this proposal is slightly more than 200,000 acres of federal lands and 31 miles of rivers.”

Specifically, the bill would protect 150,531 acres of lands as “wilderness”—the highest level of protection and conservation for federal public lands in American law, including nearly 40,000 acres in Joshua Tree National Park. Another 41,100 acres of the Park would be designated as “potential wilderness” until final property claims are settled by the National Park Service. Once settled, these lands would become “wilderness” without the necessity of an additional act of Congress. In the interim, they would be managed by the Park Service as “wilderness.”

Boxer said, “These are truly magnificent places which deserve to be passed on to future generations of Americans. They provide critically important habitat for a multitude of wildlife and plants, many of which are found nowhere else on earth. These areas also provide much needed clean water for nearby communities.

“Additionally, with nearly one in every ten dollars earned in Riverside County tied to recreation and tourism, protecting these areas would also provide lasting economic benefit to the region by increasing nearby property values, making outdoor recreation opportunities more visible, and attracting more birdwatchers, hikers, campers, fishermen and other visitors.”

The California Desert and Mountain Heritage Act enjoys broad, local support from Riverside County supervisors, municipalities, chambers of commerce, environmentalists, sportsmen, and businesses. The wilderness boundaries were drawn in consultation with local communities and tribes. The bill also includes important provisions clarifying that federal agencies could use all the tools necessary to prevent and fight wildfires.

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