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En Español
The Citizen Wilderness Inventory
 Until
recently, no one, not even the federal land management agencies themselves,
knew the true extent of California's unprotected wilderness lands.
We do now! The California Wilderness Coalition recently completed an inventory of federal public lands, which revealed that millions of acres of wilderness exist across the Golden State, yet are not protected. These are California's last wild places. They provide habitat for many threatened and endangered species, including the California condor, desert tortoise, and bald eagle.
 The Citizen Wilderness Inventory was a monumental effort. For
four years, California Wilderness Coalition staff and volunteers throughout
the state dedicated literally thousands of hours of their time on Forest Service
and Bureau of Land Management lands, surveying them and evaluating their suitability
for wilderness designation.
Why
is it important that we protect this land? A 1998 CWC study found that California
has lost 675,000 acres of wilderness-quality land since 1979 to logging, mining,
off-road vehicle routes, and development. That's an area the size of Yosemite
National Park. If we don't stand up and protect California's last wild places,
we are destined to lose them.
 To
learn more, download the Inventory
in PDF format (you will need Acrobat Reader), or read about the potential
wilderness areas and Senator Boxer's California
Heritage Wilderness Act in our Wild
Places and Campaigns sections.
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Just three miles off of Interstate 80, 
