The Los Padres National Forest could undergo significant changes under a proposal by U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly, who aims to designate thousands of acres as federally protected land and dedicate large expanses of the forest to off-highway vehicles.
Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) on Feb. 29 introduced the Los Padres Conservation and Recreation Act, a bill seeking to designate 63,500 acres of forest as “wilderness” and create two recreational areas—about 65,000 acres total—for the use of dirt bikes, motorcycles, and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs).
“Forest Service lands are, by design and law, multi-use lands,” Gallegly said in a statement to the Sun. “During the past three years, my office has worked with all stakeholders in the forest to draft a bill that protects the recreational activities of forest users as well as the pristine parts of the forest. To ensure everyone’s interests were protected, compromises had to be made. But the widespread support for the bill speaks for itself.”
Various conservation, off-road, and geocaching groups supported the bill. Consistently given low grades by environmentalists, Gallegly has maintained interest in adding wilderness to the protected area for the past several years, working with organizations including the California Wilderness Coalition, the Wilderness Society, and Los Padres ForestWatch.
Laurel Williams, California Wilderness Coalition’s deputy director of conservation for Southern California, said her group was pleased that Gallegly’s proposal included the expanding of wilderness lands, which are afforded stringent protections under the 1964 Wilderness Act.
“When these areas are protected as wilderness they can’t be open to road construction, oil drilling, logging, or any kind of development,” Williams said. “We’re really excited about those areas they included in the bill, and it’s a good first step, absolutely.”
The proposed expansion includes nearly 2,000 acres of the Dick Smith Wilderness northeast of Santa Barbara, 15,300 acres in the Matilija Wilderness, and almost 5,000 acres of the Sespe Wilderness in Ventura County. The bill would also add 89 miles of “wild and scenic” rivers to the protected area, including the Upper Piru Creek, Upper Sespe Creek, and sections of Mono Creek and Indian Creek.
In addition, the bill seeks to define 18,520 acres south of Cachuma Lake as the “Condor Ridge Scenic Area,” grandfathering in existing recreational uses. The designation would be a first for the area, according to the Forest Service, and would provide greater environmental protections than multi-use land.
“Southern California is one of the nation’s most populated regions, and the Los Padres National Forest offers a scenic and accessible recreational escape,” Paul Spitler, the Wilderness Society’s director of wilderness policy, said in a press release. “We thank Congressman Gallegly for his efforts to preserve these vital lands so that future generations can continue to experience and enjoy this spectacular California destination.”
While supportive of expanded wilderness, several conservation groups expressed concern over a provision in the bill reopening about 69 miles of Forest Service roads, some of which have been closed for decades because of safety or conservation concerns, to public motorized vehicles.
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“Most of the roads are closed for a specific reason, and all of them are a little different,” California Wilderness Coalition’s Williams said. “Our concern is that if there’s public access back there, there could be illegal incursions and people going off the road, which is definitely damaging to the forest.”
Other longtime proponents of forest preservation had similar issues with Gallegly’s proposal. Jeff Kuyper, executive director of Los Padres ForestWatch, said his group had “mixed emotions” about the version introduced to the House.
“We certainly support the protection of more wilderness areas in the Los Padres National Forest, but having said that, there are some other provisions in this bill unrelated to wilderness that we can’t support,” Kuyper said. “[Those provisions] would degrade the Los Padres National Forest and many of the reasons why people go to visit these areas in the first place, and that’s not something we think is acceptable.”
One provision Kuyper opposes involves the creation of two OHV Areas: the 20,000-acre Ballinger Canyon—spanning Santa Barbara and Ventura counties east of Highway 33—and the 45,770-acre Mt. Pinos OHV Area, located entirely within Ventura County and already extensively used by off-road enthusiasts.
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While Kuyper said he doesn’t have any specific concerns with the “symbolic” designations, he argued that forming the OHV areas would be premature without a management plan ensuring the Forest Service has enough staff to sufficiently monitor them, given the increased off-road usage they’ll likely receive.
“We want to make sure there’s adequate law enforcement out there to make sure the dirt bikes don’t go where they’re not supposed to,” he said. “The Forest Service resources are already stretched pretty thinly with budget cuts, so if we’re going to be designating some OHV areas, we need to make sure [they’re] adequately equipped to properly manage them.”
Los Padres Forest spokesman Andrew Masden said as a rule the department doesn’t comment on pending legislation, but he did say increased off-highway vehicles could put a strain on the department’s already stretched resources.
“Typically this legislation doesn’t come with money for us to implement it; we’ve just got to do what we can,” Masden said. “It would probably present some challenges to us if it were to go through.”
As it stands, Masden explained, dirt bikes and other OHVs are allowed in certain areas of the forest—including Ballinger Canyon and Mt. Pinos—as long as users remain on established trails and carry an Adventure Pass. He added that the Forest Service currently has just one employee enforcing off-road regulations at Mt. Pinos.
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Kuyper’s other main misgiving with the bill is a provision requiring the exchange of 440 acres of the National Forest for 340 acres owned by the United Water Conservation in Ventura County, a move that could result in diminished protections for endangered steelhead trout and less public access to the area, Kuyper said.
Groups also expressed concern that expanding the Mt. Pinos OHV Area could encroach on refuges set aside for the California condor reintroduction program. However, the bill does include a provision allowing the Secretary of Agriculture to close off-highway trails if there’s a demonstrative decline in the condor population. The additional wilderness lands should help with population recovery efforts as well, California Wilderness Coalition’s Williams said.
The proposed legislation will next head to the House Natural Resources Committee, and will likely have to move through quickly if there’s any chance of passage in the House, supporters said, as Gallegly is retiring at the end of the year. Redistricting could also affect the bill’s chances if it has to be reintroduced in a future session.
Representatives from the Wilderness Society, California Wilderness Coalition, and Los Padres ForestWatch said their groups would continue to collaborate with Gallegly and other members of Congress on changes to improve the proposal.
“There’s a lot of work for us to do in the months ahead,” Kuyper said. “We’re certainly going to be tracking the process, participating in it and making sure the end result is a bill that truly results in strong protections in the Los Padres Forest.”
Contact Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 8-15, 2012.