07/28/02
Please attend County meeting to speak out
and protect wild places in Kern Co.
Next Tuesday (July 30th) at 2 PM,
the Kern County Board of Supervisors will be hearing a resolution to oppose
wilderness designation for pristine lands adjacent to the existing Bright Star
Wilderness and Wild & Scenic River designation for the Lower Kern River.
We need the County Board to know that these two places, plus the potential wilderness
and wild rivers throughout California that Senator Boxer's California Wild Heritage
Act of 2002 seeks to protect, are vitally important to the people of Kern County
and California and must be permanently protected now.
Currently, this item is on the Board's Consent Calendar, which means they will
vote on it without taking any public comment. When they ask if any items should
be taken off the Calendar, we will say YES and request an opportunity to speak.
Therefore, we will need a very good turnout of folks willing to speak out on
behalf of these wild places! Please come to the hearing and speak up for protecting
these wild places.
The hearing will be at 1115 Truxtun Road in Bakersfield, at 2 PM. Please attend
and bring others!
If you can not make it, please take a moment RIGHT NOW to send a short letter
to the Kern County Board of Supervisors asking them to NOT support the pending
resolution against Senator Boxer's California Wild Heritage Act of 2002. Use
the below points and your own personal feelings to explain why.
Send copies of your letter to Supervisor Pete Parra and Supervisor Barbara Patrick
For Supervisor Parra, fax letters to 661-868-3645
Email torrese@co.kern.ca.us
Phone is (661)
868-3690
For Supervisor Patrick, fax letters to
661-3677
Email patrick@co.kern.ca.us
Phone is (661)
868-3670
If you live in the Kern River Valley,
send your letter to Supervisor Jon McQuiston at 661-868-3657.
BACKGROUND
The County Planning Commission has recommended the Board take this action, even
before a scheduled meeting between the Planning Commission and wilderness advocates.
In the letter to the Board from the Commission, the Commission asked the supervisors
to disregard the carefully worded language in the legislation Senator Boxer
has put together which reiterates the Forest Service's ability to operate and
maintain the dams at Lake Isabella and as well as control wildlife if necessary
in the Bright Star area.
This legislation, and the boundaries drawn for these two proposes have been
carefully vetted through many different stakeholders, including mt. bikers,
the Forest Service, and others.
The Bright Star Wilderness addition:
* This area is considered unique habitat from a scenic perspective. In such
a small area four different bioregions come together, including the Sierra Nevada
range, the Transverse Range, the Mojave Desert, and the Central Valley.
* Plant and animal species living together here are found together no where
else. From a scientific perspective, this area offers rare opportunities to
study rapid evolution and ecosystem development.
* This area contains the Inspiration Point Botanical Area. The Botanical Area
was set aside to protect the spectacular view from this point. The rare Piute
cypress tree grows in the very west end of this area in the Piute Cypress RNA.
The Bodfish Piute Cypress Botanical Area is also within our boundaries and identified
as important flora habitat. These areas were identified to protect these trees
which have very limited range.
* Currently, the Bright Star potential Wilderness addition is open to Off-Road
Vehicles that have caused extensive damage and erosion. The boundaries of this
proposal were carefully drawn to ensure that key trails would remain open to
both dirt bikes and mt. bikes, while important ecological areas would be protected.
The Lower Kern River:
* The river is important riparian habitat, including critical habitat for the
Kern Canyon Salamander.
* This stretch of the river is a popular whitewater-rafting destination, commercially
run by five outfitters. The entire river is heavily used for recreation with
numerous campgrounds, river access sites and hot springs. Wild & Scenic
designation would ensure that these opportunities would remain intact, and future
generations would be able to enjoy the river as so many do today. Otherwise,
the river could be bleed dry, eliminating the whitewater run and so much more.
* The Kern River, fed by Snowmelt from Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the
lower 48 states, provides drinking water for Kern and Los Angeles counties.
* The Forest Service has found this stretch of the river eligible for Wild &
Scenic River designation based on its outstanding recreational, scenic, wildlife,
and history values.
For questions, please contact Tina Andolina at 530-758-0380 or tina@calwild.org.
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Tina Andolina
California Wilderness Coalition www.calwild.org
phone 530-758-0380 fax 530-758-0382
cell 530-902-1649
2655 Portage Bay East, Ste. 5
Davis, CA 95616