House approves Bono Mack bill to protect wilderness

DEBORAH BARFIELD BERRY • Gannett News Service

WASHINGTON - The House passed a bill Monday sponsored by Rep. Mary Bono Mack that would designate nearly 200,000 acres of public land in Riverside County as wilderness and give it more federal protections.
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The measure, which passed on a voice vote, designates as wilderness areas 191,000 acres of public land, including the San Bernardino National Forest, Joshua Tree National Park and Pinto Mountains.

It also designates several rivers as “wild, scenic or recreational.’’ They include Bautista Creek, Fuller Mill Creek, Canyon Creek and the North Fork San Jacinto River.

Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs, originally introduced the bill in 2006.A similar measure introduced by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Ca., is pending in the Senate.

Bono Mack’s bill has garnered broad support from the City of Palm Springs to the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce and the Campaign for America’s Wilderness.

“It’s a win-win for the community,’’ said Brian Geiger, spokesman for the Campaign for America’s Wilderness, a national conservation group.

Geiger said the measure ensures those public lands are “going to stay wild, and they’re going to stay natural. It protects them from misuse.’’

Geiger said the measure sets more rules for use of the land, including disallowing motor vehicles such as all-terrain vehicles in the wilderness areas.

Bono Mack’s bill was one of several wilderness measures lawmakers were scheduled to consider Monday.

Meanwhile, the House recently passed four wilderness bills, including one protecting lands in Oregon.

“It seems like all of sudden we just caught a wave,’’ Geiger said. “Better late than never.’’