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Southern California's wild places need your help!

Southern California's Cleveland, Los Padres, Angeles, and San Bernardino national forests are launching a major planning effort. The four forests under study are among the most ecologically diverse in the state, and yet are in some of our most urbanized regions. They contain many spectacular wild places such as the Ventana Wilderness, Sespe Wilderness, San Gabriel Wilderness, Pine Creek Wilderness, and others. It is imperative that the new land and resource management plans developed for these forests provide adequate protection for the many ecological and social values that make them irreplaceable.

National forests, like cities and counties, are zoned for various levels of “development.” The zones determine which areas are allocated for wildlife habitat, logging, grazing, off-road vehicle use, non-motorized recreation, etc. The documents that describe these zones and what is allowed in them are called "land and resource management plans." Every national forest must have a land and resource management plan, and these documents must be revised every 10 to 15 years. Southern California’s Cleveland, Los Padres, Angeles, and San Bernardino national forests are currently revising their plans and they are seeking the public’s input on what these documents should say. Your input is needed to protect southern California’s wild and scenic areas and rivers.

Act now!

Please write by April 15, 2001 to:
Forest Supervisor Jody Cook
Angeles National Forest
701 N. Santa Anita Avenue
Arcadia, CA 91006

Fax: (626) 574-5233

Ask that the Southern California national forests’ land and resource management plans:

• Require that all roadless areas be protected from vehicle use and all development activity, and that a comprehensive review of potential wild and scenic rivers is included in the plans.

• Mandate that threatened and/or unique habitats be preserved and restored. Allow fire to play a more natural role in ecosystems that have evolved with it.

• Identify which roads require continued maintenance and which roads should be closed for ecological and fiscal reasons. Mandate that official off-road vehicle routes be identified and that off-road vehicle use be confined to these signed, sanctioned routes.

• Update mining and grazing regulations to meet current scientific and policy considerations.

• Include wilderness management plans for all wilderness areas that currently do not have them. Identify key inholdings or other private land to acquire. Inholdings in wilderness, roadless areas, or other important natural areas should be the highest priorities for acquisition.