Difference between revisions of "Federal legislation and executive orders relating to federal lands in California's Central Coast region"

Revision as of 15:00, 16 March 2021

An environmental summary by the ENVS 560/L Watershed Systems class at CSUMB.

The following acts relate to the following federal entities which in turn affect federal lands in California's Central Coast region that are under the control of the various entities.

Laws involving The National Park Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management

• The Antiquities Act of 1906 ^[1]
  • The Antiquities Act was the first law in the U.S. to provide general protection for any general kind of "cultural or natural resource" ^[2]. It established the first national historic preservation policy for the United States. The statute provided a tool for politicians and their supporters to clearly identify the uses of public lands and resources with a concentration in conservation. The act dissolved the requirement of parks or reserves to have an act of Congress as well as Presidential approval to begin conservation efforts, allowing the establishment of national monuments to be quicker.
  • The The National Park Service used this act to establish what are now known as the following:
    • Pinnacles National Park
    • Sequoia National Park
    • Kings Canyon National Park
    • Channel Islands National Park
    • César E. Chávez National Monument
  • The U.S. Bureau of Land Management used this act was used to establish the following:
    • Fort Ord National Monument (FONM)
    • California Coastal National Monument (CCNM)
    • Carrizo Plain National Monument
• Federal Property Act of 1949 ^[3]
  • The purpose of this act is to help increase local recreation opportunities while reducing the federal government’s inventory of real property. This program has transferred about 184,000 acres of land to date to state and local governments for parks and recreation use.
• The Wilderness Act of 1964 ^[4]
  • A law that created the legal definition of wilderness in the U.S., which protects 9.1 million acres (37,000 km²) of federal land. The definition is as follows; "A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain." - Howard Zahniser

Laws involving The National Park Service

Federal

• Forest Reserve Act of 1891 ^[5]
  • Gives the President the authority to unilaterally set aside forest reserves from land in the public domain^[6] which affects the management of Los Padres National Forest.
• The Transfer Act of 1905 ^[7]
  • Transferred the forest reserves of the U.S. from the Department of the Interior to the Department of Agriculture, which affects who manages Los Padres National Forest.
• The Weeks Act of 1911 ^[8]
  • Authorized the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to "Examine, locate and recommend for purchase ... such lands within the watersheds of navigable streams as ... may be necessary to the regulation of flow of navigable streams....".
• The Multiple Use - Sustained Yield Act of 1960 ^[9]
  • Authorizes and directs the Secretary of Agriculture to develop and administer the renewable resources of timber, range, water, recreation and wildlife on the national forests for multiple use and sustained yield of the products and services.
• The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1970 ^[10]
• The National Forest Management Act (NFMA) of 1976 ^[11]
  • This law is the main statute governing the administration of national forests and was an amendment to the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974.
• The Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 ^[12]
  • This law revised the authority of the United States Forest Service to provide financial and technical assistance to states and private landowners on a variety of forestry issues, including forest management and stewardship, fire protection, insect and disease control, reforestation and stand improvement, and urban forestry.

State/Local

• The Wilderness Act of 1964 ^[13]
  • A law that created the legal definition of wilderness in the U.S., which protects 9.1 million acres (37,000 km²) of federal land. The definition is as follows; "A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain." - Howard Zahniser.
  • This law established the National Wilderness Preservation System which helped create the following wilderness areas;
    • San Rafael Wilderness (194,380 acres (787 km2))
    • Ventana Wilderness (240,026 acres (971 km2))
    • Garcia Wilderness (14,100 acres (57 km2) in the Lucia District)
    • Santa Lucia Wilderness (20,412 acres (83 km2) in the Lucia District, in the Santa Lucia Mountains)
    • Machesna Mountain Wilderness (19,880 acres (80 km2), in the La Panza Range in San Luis Obispo County)
    • Silver Peak Wilderness (31,555 acres (128 km2), in the Monterey District)
    • Chumash Wilderness (38,150 acres (154 km2) in the Mt. Pinos Ranger District, just west of Mount Pinos)
    • Sespe Wilderness (219,700 acres (889 km2), in both the Ojai and Mt. Pinos Ranger Districts)
    • Matilija Wilderness (29,600 acres (120 km2) in the Ojai Ranger District)
• Ventana Wilderness Act of 1964 ^[14]
  • Established the Ventana Wilderness Area.
• Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 ^[15]
  • authorizes long-range planning by the United States Forest Service to protect, develop, and enhance the productivity and other values of forest resources. It requires that a renewable resource assessment and a Forest Service plan be prepared every ten and five years, respectively, to plan and prepare for the future of natural resources.
• Endangered American Wilderness Act of 1978 ^[16]
  • Established ten new designated Wilderness Areas in the National Forests of several Western states. In California, it created the following;
    • 306,000 acre Golden Trout Wilderness in the Inyo and Sequoia National Forests
    • 21,250 acre Santa Lucia Wilderness in the Los Padres National Forest
    • 61,000 acre Ventana Wilderness in the Los Padres National Forest
• California Wilderness Act of 1984 ^[17]
  • This act authorized the addition of over 3 million acres (12,000 km2) [1] within the state of California to the National Wilderness Preservation System. It created the following;
    • Dick Smith Wilderness (64,800 acres (262 km2) in the Santa Barbara Ranger District)
• The Los Padres Condor Range and River Protection Act of 1992 ^[18]
  • Established five new designated Wilderness Areas and three new designated Wild and Scenic Rivers in the Los Padres National Forest and Angeles National Forest in California.
• Big Sur Wilderness and Conservation Act of 2002 ^[19]
  • This law designated specific lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, or the National Park Service in California as wilderness, as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System, and as additions to the Ventana, Silver Peak, or Pinnacles Wilderness areas.

Laws involving The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The following federal lands affected by this legislation are as follows:

• Ellicott Slough National Wildlife Refuge near Watsonville
• Salinas River National Wildlife Refuge near Marina
• Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge near Taft
• Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes National Wildlife Refuge near Nipomo
• Kern National Wildlife Refuge near Lost Hills, in the Central Valley
• Pixley National Wildlife Refuge near Delano, in the Central Valley
• Blue Ridge National Wildlife Refuge near Visalia in the foothills of the southern Sierra Nevada
• National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 ^[20]
  • This act establishes the guidelines and directives for administration and management of all areas in National Wildlife Refuge system including "wildlife refuges, areas for the protection and conservation of fish and wildlife that are threatened with extinction, wildlife ranges, game ranges, wildlife management areas, and waterfowl production areas.
• National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act ^[21]
  • Amends the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 in a manner that provides an “Organic Act” for the Refuge System.

Related links

• Legislation related to environmental management in California's Central Coast Region

References

1. ↑ https://www.nps.gov/history/local-law/anti1906.htm
2. ↑ https://www.nps.gov/archeology/tools/laws/AntAct.htm
3. ↑ https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1508/index.htm
4. ↑ https://wilderness.net/learn-about-wilderness/key-laws/wilderness-act/default.php
5. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20100217050446/http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/forest-research/heritage/early1.html#top
6. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20100217050446/http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/forest-research/heritage/early1.html#top
7. ↑ https://foresthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Transfer_Act_1905.pdf
8. ↑ https://foresthistory.org/research-explore/us-forest-service-history/policy-and-law/the-weeks-act/
9. ↑ https://www.fs.fed.us/emc/nfma/includes/musya60.pdf
10. ↑ https://ceq.doe.gov/#:~:text=Congress%20enacted%20NEPA%20to%20establish,Carta%22%20of%20Federal%20environmental%20laws.
11. ↑ https://www.sierraforestlegacy.org/FC_LawsPolicyRegulations/FPP_NFMA.php
12. ↑ https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Cooperative%20Forestry%20Assistance%20Act%20Of%201978.pdf
13. ↑ https://wilderness.net/learn-about-wilderness/key-laws/wilderness-act/default.php
14. ↑ https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/statement-signing-bill-designating-the-ventana-wilderness-california
15. ↑ https://www.fs.fed.us/emc/nfma/includes/range74.pdf
16. ↑ https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/95/hr3454
17. ↑ https://www.congress.gov/bill/98th-congress/house-bill/1437
18. ↑ https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-106/pdf/STATUTE-106-Pg242.pdf
19. ↑ https://www.congress.gov/bill/107th-congress/house-bill/4750
20. ↑ https://www.fws.gov/laws/lawsdigest/nwrsact.html
21. ↑ https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Salinas_River/1997Act.html

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