4x4Voice

Forest Service shares draft evaluations of potential areas for wilderness recommendation in forest plan revisions

The U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Region released a draft evaluations of lands that may be suitable for recommendation and inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System. This list covers Inyo, Sierra, and Sequoia National Forests.

No new wilderness areas are being designated at this time. Only the Congress can designate wilderness.

In an effort to keep the public engaged throughout the forest plan revision process for the Inyo, Sequoia and Sierra National Forests, the U.S. Forest Service is sharing our process for evaluating and identifying lands that may be suitable for recommendation and inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System. No new wilderness areas are being designated at this time. Only Congress can make this determination.

Please read this entire message as there is an important opportunity on Monday, December 3rd, for the public to address the Lyon County Board of Commissioners (BOC) regarding wilderness areas in Lyon County.

Since our last eAlert the BOC met on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 and they are proposing that two elements of the current Public Lands Policy be rescinded.  First, rescind the "No additional Wilderness Areas shall be designated in Lyon County" language and second, rescind all "penalty" statements (related to violations of the Public Lands Policy).  The BOC will decided the fate of this proposed action at their December 6, 2012 meeting (agenda not yet published).  Obviously, passage of this proposal will mean the BOC would be released from past decisions and commitments to "no wilderness" as contained in County Code Title 10 Chapter 13 and past resolutions.