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En Español
Golden State Wilderness Campaign
 The
California Wilderness Coalition has launched its newest campaign, the Golden
State Wilderness Campaign, which seeks to designate and protect wilderness on
lands owned by the state of California. California is one of a few states that
has the authority to designate wilderness at the state level. Under the State
California Wilderness Act of 1974, both the California legislature and the State
Parks and Recreation Commission can designate new wilderness in state parks
(only the legislature can designate wilderness in other state lands). If, by
either of these methods, an area is designated as wilderness, it will be protected
from harms such as mining, logging, off-road vehicle damage, and other unwise
developments. With the new campaign, CWC will strive to protect California lands
from these dangers.
The Golden State Wilderness Campaign staff has begun an inventory of potential wilderness areas on state lands. CWC has created maps of potential state wilderness and is now in the process of sending staff and volunteers to field-check areas eligible for wilderness protection.
CWC already is in the thick of efforts to protect state-owned land as wilderness. For example, one important area is Anza-Borrego Desert State Park-California's largest state park-which lies in San Diego and Riverside counties and is a critical habitat for endangered plants and wildlife species. In 2003, the park's general management plan-the result of years of study and public input-recommended that 54,000 acres of the park be designated as wilderness.
In November of 2003, the California State Parks and Recreation
Commission was on the verge of designating this new wilderness area when the
vote was postponed. The CWC is now working to demonstrate additional support
for wilderness designation in the park. For more information about how you can
help protect Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, visit www.calwild.org/action/alert_120503.php
If you would like to volunteer to photograph or field-check potential wilderness in California's state parks, please call Lea at (510) 451-1450.
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Just three miles off of Interstate 80, 
