Federal legislation and executive orders relating to federal lands in California's Central Coast region

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

This not-yet-written page could list and describe each of the federal acts of Congress and executive orders that have led to the designation of certain federal lands in California's Central Coast region.

For example:

• Legislation that created each of the Designated wilderness areas in California's Central Coast Region
• Executive order that created Fort Ord National Monument
• Action that created Pinnacles National Park
• Action that created Los Padres National Forest
• Action that created Salinas River National Wildlife Refuge

Federal Legislation

National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management

• The Antiquities Act of 1906
  • For the National Park Service (NPS), this act was used to establish what is now known as Pinnacles National Park, Sequoia National Park, Kings Canyon National Park, Channel Islands National Park, and the César E. Chávez National Monument.
  • For the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM), this act was used to establish Fort Ord National Monument (FONM), California Coastal National Monument (CCNM), and Carrizo Plain National Monument.

National Forest Service

• Forest Reserve Act of 1891
  • Gives the President the authority to unilaterally set aside forest reserves from land in the public domain which affects the management of Los Padres National Forest.
• The Transfer Act of 1905
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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 Wilderness Act of 1964
  • 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 Ventana Wilderness.

• Ventana Wilderness Act of 1964
  • Established the Ventana Wilderness.
• The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1970
• Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974
• The National Forest Management Act (NFMA) of 1976
• The Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978
• Endangered American Wilderness Act of 1978
• California Wilderness Act of 1984
• The Los Padres Condor Range and River Protection Act of 1992
• Big Sur Wilderness and Conservation Act of 2002
  • 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.

United States Fish and Wildlife Service

• National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966
• National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act

Related links

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

Disclaimer

This page may contain student work completed as part of assigned coursework. It may not be accurate. It does not necessary reflect the opinion or policy of CSUMB, its staff, or students.