Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General (and former Gov.) Jerry Brown have formed an unlikely coalition against the U.S. Forest Service and its plan to allow for more road-building and oil drilling in some of California’s largest national forests. The state filed suit against the Forest Service over plans that would open more than 500,000 acres to road construction and 52,000 acres to oil development. According to the L.A. Times, these four forests—Los Padres, Angeles, San Bernardino and Cleveland—include more than 3.5 million acres that stretch from Big Sur to the Mexican border. They provide habitat for 31 threatened or endangered animal species and 29 such plant species.
As an environmentalist and someone who grew to love this rugged country with its spiky yucca and warm sandstone boulders, I think the Forest Service’s reneging on a promise to protect these lands is despicable. In my eight years in Santa Barbara I spent much time hiking and camping in the Los Padres. It’s not the most easily lovable forest—it’s mostly very dry chaparral and is only wet in creek canyons, where bay trees and sycamores provide dappled shade. But still, it’s wild. Uncontaminated by man and his projects, and a refuge for wildlife. The idea of oil wells going up and trucks rattling through the canyons makes my blood pressure rise.
At the same time, as a realist and a former forester’s daughter, I recognize that fire suppression is a huge concern and will only grow more so as dry conditions worsen in the West. The Forest Service argues that roads are needed to help in these efforts, and they are not wrong. Just last year the Zaca Fire scorched 240,200 acres of the Los Padres, and from what I can tell most of my favorite backcountry hikes are now inaccessible due to the fallout from this devastating blaze.
Land management makes for a fascinating debate, and I can’t even imagine all the factors that need to be weighed in a situation like this to determine what’s best. But at heart, I think the state has made the right decision in trying to force the Forest Service to honor its commitment to preserving this wilderness for future generations.
Read about it in:
The Ventura County Star
The L.A. Times
As an environmentalist and someone who grew to love this rugged country with its spiky yucca and warm sandstone boulders, I think the Forest Service’s reneging on a promise to protect these lands is despicable. In my eight years in Santa Barbara I spent much time hiking and camping in the Los Padres. It’s not the most easily lovable forest—it’s mostly very dry chaparral and is only wet in creek canyons, where bay trees and sycamores provide dappled shade. But still, it’s wild. Uncontaminated by man and his projects, and a refuge for wildlife. The idea of oil wells going up and trucks rattling through the canyons makes my blood pressure rise.At the same time, as a realist and a former forester’s daughter, I recognize that fire suppression is a huge concern and will only grow more so as dry conditions worsen in the West. The Forest Service argues that roads are needed to help in these efforts, and they are not wrong. Just last year the Zaca Fire scorched 240,200 acres of the Los Padres, and from what I can tell most of my favorite backcountry hikes are now inaccessible due to the fallout from this devastating blaze.
Land management makes for a fascinating debate, and I can’t even imagine all the factors that need to be weighed in a situation like this to determine what’s best. But at heart, I think the state has made the right decision in trying to force the Forest Service to honor its commitment to preserving this wilderness for future generations.Read about it in:
The Ventura County Star
The L.A. Times
There are tons more here: 
A real, bona fide spring flower, everyone. Please try to contain yourselves. We still have to get through at least this cold, crappy week. But March is on the horizon! Then April! Then, dare we say it? Summer!
