Rep. Judy Chu.

On June 23, 2017, Rep. Judy Chu introduced the San Gabriel Mountains Forever Act, a bill that would add 31,069 acres of new wilderness and 45 miles of new wild and scenic rivers to the dramatic and popular San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California. Rep. Chu has been acting with decisive and expedient force lately; between this bill and her swift introduction of H.R. 2323 (which would expand the San Gabriels National Monument), she has demonstrated her willingness to stand up for the anti-public lands sentiments coming from President Trump, his cabinet, and Congress. CalWild is proud to have her as one of our many conservation allies working to protect our public lands, monuments, and wilderness areas.

Please take a moment to thank Rep. Chu for this bill using the form below. 

Birding at Goat Mtn, Berryessa-Snow Mtn NM by Sami LaRocca

President Trump has initiated a review of 27 National Monuments in hopes that he and his anti-public lands cohorts in Congress will be able to downsize or revoke them completely. This is unprecedented and according to many legal experts, illegal to boot.

Bears Ears, a massive monument in Utah and designated by President Obama in his final days, has already been recommended to be downsized by Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. The same could happen to Mojave Trails here in California (which is even bigger than Bears Ears) – or any of the other monuments subject to review. CalWild is standing with our nationwide conservation partners because we realize a threat to one monument is a threat to all.

We need everyone who believes in the designation of our National Monuments to make a public comment to the Department of the Interior at the link below by JULY 10TH. It should focus on one monument that means something special to you. Tell a story, share a memory, and do your part in protecting the 129 National Monuments created since 1906 from further attack. 

Mt. Baldy by Jack Schlinkert

Rep. Judy Chu has introduced legislation to expand the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, a week after President Donald Trump ordered the review of the Monument and six others in California. Cosponsored by Representatives Grace Napolitano, Adam Schiff, Linda Sanchez, and Tony Cardenas. Chu’s H.R. 2323 proposes to add more than 109,000 acres to Monument, which was established in 2014 by President Barack Obama. The bill also proposes to establish a 51,000-acre San Gabriel National Recreation Area in the publicly-owned foothills adjacent to the Monument and along the lower San Gabriel River and Rio Hondo.

Email Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Kamala Harris urging them to introduce a Senate companion bill to Rep. Chu’s bold legislation to expand the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and establish the downstream National Recreation Area.

Learn more about the bill here.

Feinstein staff near the Amargosa River

Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced the California Desert Protection and Recreation Act (S. 32) earlier this year.  The bill would protect many wild and special places in our desert and build upon the Senator’s career-long dedication to the preservation of our desert. The bill is a well-balanced compromise of a wide array of interests.  As such, the bill not only has the support of conservationists, but of off-road vehicle enthusiasts, veterans, local government, utilities, small businesses, tribes, and the military, among other interests.

As one might guess, the current Administration and make-up of Congress lessen the probability that Congress will pass legislation like the Senator’s bill.  However, what makes this bill different is that Representative Paul Cook has introduced a bill that is almost identical to the Senator’s bill (California Off-Road Recreation and Conservation Act (H.R. 857).  That means the bill has bi-partisan support, which is critical in this political climate.

We need to encourage the Senator to continue to push for the bill’s passage. Take a moment to send the Senator a letter of support below.

Learn more about the bill here.

In 2015, Representative Steve Knight (R-Palmdale) introduced legislation in Congress to protect the proposed Castaic Wilderness and establish the St. Francis Dam Disaster National Memorial. The nearly 70,000-acre proposed Castaic Wilderness is located on public lands in Los Angeles County north of the Santa Clarita and Los Angeles. The proposed St. Francis Dam National Memorial is a small 440-acre site located just southeast of the proposed wilderness.

Fast forward to 2017: Rep. Knight recently reintroduced his St. Francis Dam National Memorial legislation, without including the proposed Castaic Wilderness.

Send him an email now with the form below to let him know the Castaic deserves the protection he originally proposed!

Learn more about this campaign here.

NW CA Hayfork Creek bridge walker. photo: Jason Smith

Congressman Rob Bishop [R-UT] has consistently made himself an obstacle to conservation work and a foe to public lands in general. Now, he’s using a different angle to try take away your public lands: by using the federal budget process to request $50 million of taxpayer money for the immediate transfer of national public lands to state control, and for other anti-conservation requests.

Rep. Bishop’s budget proposal also stops the protection of new tracts of land; supports the repeal of measures to reform the federal coal program and to prevent new coal leases on public lands; and siphons money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which helps to support our public lands.

Rep. Bishop’s budget request runs counter to the fundamental, democratic principle that public lands are part of our heritage and belong to everyone.

The House Appropriations Committee will soon be considering Rep. Bishop’s budget request.  We need to tell our California members of Congress who are key to the federal budget process that Rep. Bishop’s request is a bad one. Contact your member of Congress to tell her/him that you oppose any budget that contains this dangerous proposal.

Rose Valley by Linda Castro

Representative Chaffetz (R-UT) has introduced H.R. 622, Local Enforcement for Local Lands Act, which would terminate all United States Forest Service (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) law enforcement officers and would take away from these agencies all federal funding for law enforcement activities.

This bill is now being considered by the House Natural Resources Committee and Agriculture Committee.  A good number of California Representatives are on those Committees and will be an important part of Congress’ decision making process on this bill.

Please send them a letter that asks them to oppose H.R. 622 NOW.

A vote is expected any day. Let them know why the public lands in your district are so important to you – personal letters are always more powerful.