2.1 millon acres gone - Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009

[nwoods]

Its getting to the point where USA is less and less appealing as a place to live.
http://www.mercurynews.com/topstories/ci_12032734

The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, co-written by Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Sen. Barbara Boxer, is the largest wilderness preservation bill since President Clinton signed the Desert Protection Act in 1994.

With Obama's signature, wilderness designation was extended to roughly 750,000 acres of federally owned land in California, including Mineral King Valley in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park, where Walt Disney attempted to build a massive ski resort in the 1960s; bristlecone pine forests in the Eastern Sierra, and vast expanses of desert, including portions of Joshua Tree National Park.

In wilderness areas, people are allowed to hike, ride horses, camp, hunt and fish. But logging, mining, building roads and riding mountain bikes is banned in such areas. Roughly 109 million acres — or 5 percent of the United States — is federally protected wilderness

 

[Christian P.]

except for the mountain bike part, I would think it's a good thing, no?

 

[calamaridog]

Well, it isn't actually gone...

You just have to hoof it now:ylsmoke:

 

[James86004]

For those of us who rockhound, it is not a good thing.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Unrelated but the biggest, most startling thing for me was the loss of Tellico today. Really a bummer...

 

[GaryMc]

Gone? Only if you are too lazy to get out of your rig and walk several miles. I welcome the package.

Also, this is not the appropriate forum for the topic.

 

[ujoint]

I've never understood the mtn bike vs horse thing. Guess it's cause I'm a mtn biker. At least we don't take a dump in the middle of the trail...... I say if horses are allowed, bikes should be too!!!!

 

[GaryMc]

I've never understood the mtn bike vs horse thing. Guess it's cause I'm a mtn biker. At least we don't take a dump in the middle of the trail...... I say if horses are allowed, bikes should be too!!!!

As an avid mountain biker and off-roader, I heartily disagree. There are some places you should just have to walk to see.

 

[BLKNBLU]

As an avid mountain biker and off-roader, I heartily disagree. There are some places you should just have to walk to see.

But that still doesn't explain the allowance of pack animals. They can be very destructive.

 

[teotwaki]

Gone? Only if you are too lazy to get out of your rig and walk several miles. I welcome the package.

Also, this is not the appropriate forum for the topic.

Neither is it appropriate to call people "lazy" when you have no knowledge of health or mobility issues.

 

[GaryMc]

Neither is it appropriate to call people "lazy" when you have no knowledge of health or mobility issues.

True, I apologize for that callous missive. As the father of a child in a wheelchair I am ashamed that I made such a broad statement. I mean that.
That said, I still stand behind that spirit of what i said.

 

[calamaridog]

As an avid mountain biker and off-roader, I heartily disagree. There are some places you should just have to walk to see.

That's the point though. You don't have to walk - you can ride a horse. Mt. Bike is no worse than a horse. Allowing one and not the other seems silly.

Of course the whole issue of VAST underfunding of natural resource protection continues to be ignored...

 

[silverscout]

I don't understand the mentality where the states personal freedoms are subject to the whims of the few. Seems elitist, don’t you think?

 

[paulj]

Its getting to the point where USA is less and less appealing as a place to live.

Exactly how does this bill affect you? Do you use water from the San Joaquin River? Have you driven through any of the newly designated wilderness areas? Plan on reviving Disney's planned development for Mineral King Valley? Open a mine in the White Mountains? Drive your ORV across some meadows?

Rep McKeon from the eastern Sierra district sponsored part of this bill
http://mckeon.house.gov/this_in_detail.aspx?NewsID=1477
here are maps of included areas in California
http://www.mckeon.house.gov/eastern_sierra_maps.aspx
The bill includes a winter recreation component in the Bridgeport Area. Is that bad?

 

[GaryMc]

I don't understand the mentality where the states personal freedoms are subject to the whims of the few. Seems elitist, don’t you think?

Whims? Please tell us how this is a "whim".