An Activist Shares Her Story

by Lynn Ryan of Ancient Forest International
November 15, 2006


On October 17, the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act of 2006 became federal law. The bill added 275,830 acres of federal public roadless land to the Federal Wilderness Preservation System, officially designated as Wilderness. It also protects segments of the Black Butte River (a tributary of the Middle Fork Eel) as Wild and Scenic for 21 miles on existing federal public land, with an additional 6,563 acres for a grand total of 282,393 new Wilderness acres.

You may ask, "How did this happen?" I can tell you my story, while other activists and wilderness lovers have their own stories.

A letter writing campaign to our elected officilas ensues on a hike in the "proposed" wilderness area. Photo: Lynn Ryan

One day in 1999 I was reading the California Wilderness Coalition newsletter and learned of an effort to inventory all remaining roadless Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management land in California to begin the process of passing a California Wilderness bill through the United States Congress. I love the King Range and Cahto Peak and the South Fork Eel and have been, for 20 years, part of a group of activists keeping those areas roadless. Wilderness designation would keep them roadless forever with no mechanical vehicles and no commercial logging, while continuing to allow hunting, fishing, horseback riding, camping, hiking, and other non-motorized activities.

So I went to a meeting and learned how to inventory boundaries, how to draw little dirt roads on maps, and how to talk to hunters and hikers about my "survey" without mentioning Wilderness, often a dirty word and subject to cursing and suspicion. I rousted Humboldt State University students to join me as we solicited letters of support from businesses and elected officials in Arcata, Eureka, Southern Humboldt County, and Mendocino County. We went onto hikes, lots of hikes. We searched for old trailheads and fixed flat tires. We pulled each other out of ditches and back up on ridges. We got lost and found, laughed a lot, slept under the stars in the middle of nowhere, and listened to mountain lions screeching in the night.

Lynn Ryan (with map) on one of the many hikes she lead in the "proposed" wilderness areas. Photo: courtesy Lynn Ryan

Senator Barbara Boxer told us that each area needed to be "adopted" by a group or individual, and the adoptive activist needed to get more and more support for each area included in the wilderness bill. We poured over maps and spoke with neighboring landowners, trying to explain that wilderness would keep things as they are now-no more roads, no new cattle grazing, no new mining claims, you can still fight fires just like you do now, safe wildlife habitat, clean water, wilderness for future generations. We worked with Congressman Mike Thompson to introduce a bill in the House of Representatives. We answered tough questions from Senator Dianne Feinstein to gain her endorsement, dogged Governor Schwarzenegger for his nod of approval, obtained letters of support from all Humboldt County supervisors. In a remarkable show of local support, 21 of the 24 county supervisors in the five counties encompassed by H.R. 233/S. 128 are on record in favor of the bill. We tried to convince the Farm Bureau that we were not misrepresenting the facts; we went on hikes and took as many people with us as were willing to join in. Momentum built, community wilderness alliances were formed, everyone wrote letters to their elected officials with heartfelt passion for the beauty of wilderness nurturing our souls in these troubled times. We braved Congressman Richard Pombo's House Resources Committee, where Mad River Buttes and some of the Siskiyou Wilderness additions were torn away from the bill. We cried and howled and vowed to keep lost areas roadless forever even though they would not get Wilderness designation now.

We see this bill as a great success, a monumental grassroots effort over seven years. We thank Congressman Mike Thompson, Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, the California Wild Heritage Campaign, and all the unsung volunteers who made the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act of 2006 become law--and an environmental legacy--on October 17, 2006.

For more information please visit www.californiawild.org

A map showing the existing & newly preserved Wilderness following the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Act of 2006 being signed into law. Photo: map by Trees Foundation GIS

The Facts

* All of the areas are in Congressman Mike Thompson's 1st Congressional District including Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Lake, and Napa Counties.

* Siskiyou Wilderness Additions: include East Fork Blue Creek, Nickowitz Peak vicinity, and Bear Basin Butte--30,122 acres

*1 Trinity Alps Wilderness Additions--22,863 acres

* Mount Lassic Wilderness--7,279 acres

* King Range Wilderness: includes Chemise Mountain--42,585 acres

* South Fork Eel Wilderness: includes Cahto Peak, Elkhorn Ridge, Brush Mountain, Red Mountain--24,186 acres

*1 Yolla Bolly Middle Eel Wilderness Additions--27,036 acres

* Yuki Wilderness--53,887 acres

* Sanhedrin Wilderness--10,571 acres

* Snow Mountain Wilderness Additions--23,706 acres

* Cedar Roughs Wilderness, Napa County--6,350 acres

* Cache Creek Wilderness--27,245 acres

* Black Butte Wild and Scenic River--6,563 acres in 21 river miles

* Designates 51,513-acre "Cow Mountain Recreation Area" outside Ukiah, essentially mirroring the BLM's current management of the mountain, which is half ORV use and half non-motorized recreation, including substantial mountain bicycle use.

* Authorizes extension to heirs of 15-20 commercial fishing/driving permits on Gold Bluffs Beach, Redwood National Park


This article can be found online at www.treesfoundation.org/publications/article-262

Forest & River News is produced by Trees Foundation. For more information contact:
Ancient Forest International
P.O. Box 1850
Redway, CA 95560
Email: afi@ancientforests.org
Phone: (707) 923-3015 Fax: (707) 923-3015