Wilderness Area

The House passed legislation Monday nearly doubling the amount of land to be preserved as wilderness in California's sprawling Los Padres National Forest and designating three rivers in the area as wild and scenic. Los Padres, the second-largest national forest in California, encompasses nearly 2 million acres of rugged mountains, conifer forests, grasslands and chaparral stretching from Monterey south to the outskirts of Los Angeles.

SAN FRANCISCO - The U.S. Interior Department violated federal law by failing to conduct an environmental review before ordering a Northern California oyster farmer to shutter his operation, attorneys for the farmer told a federal appeals court panel here Tuesday. In a case that has become a cause celebre across the political spectrum, oysterman Kevin Lunny had been ordered to close the farm late last year when his lease to operate within Point Reyes National Seashore expired. Closing Lunny's Drakes Bay Oyster Co. would make way for the first marine wilderness area on the West Coast at Drakes Estero, an environmentally sensitive area home to a large population of harbor seals.

A meeting about the largest private wilderness left in South Orange County and how to preserve it is being presented Tuesday by the Sierra Club. The program, "Our Backyard Wilderness," will feature slides and a discussion of the area between San Clemente and Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park that includes 131,000 acres of pristine oak-filled canyons, rolling hills and threatened plants and animals, according to organizers.

Restaurants, seafood bars and even other shellfish providers are bemoaning the imminent demise of Drakes Bay Oyster Co., a Northern California business said to be responsible for nearly 40% of the state's oyster production. With “demand for good quality shellfish just going through the roof,” the company's shutdown “is going to squeeze some pricing up,” said John Finger, co-owner of nearby Hog Island Oyster Farm in Tomales Bay. “They were a big chunk of the local market for sure,” Finger said.

About 500 firefighters battled a brush fire Wednesday that burned 700 acres and was on a path toward a wilderness area, officials said. The blaze, reported about 11 a.m., was burning away from the tiny Lytle Creek community and no structures were threatened, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Judy Behrens. But she said the fire's westward path was carrying it toward the Cucamonga Wilderness Area. By Wednesday afternoon, it had burned within a mile of one section of the wilderness area.

A fire in the Trinity National Forest entered its second week after destroying nearly 7,500 acres of timber worth an estimated $45 million. By mid-afternoon Wednesday, 2,069 workers had carved a containment line around 75% of the fire area about 44 miles southwest of Red Bluff. "It's rocky, steep ground and they're really having hard access, especially to the wilderness area, since there are no roads," said Evelyn Dollarhide of the U.S. Forest Service fire information center.

Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura) and three other congressmen introduced an extensive conservation bill Wednesday that designates vast portions of Los Padres National Forest as wilderness protected from development.

Flames that raced through about 3,500 acres of San Gabriel Wilderness Area brush slowed to a near stop Monday, but more than 1,000 firefighters were warned that erratic winds from mountain thunderstorms could whip them up again. For the time being, however, rising humidity and generally low winds eased the situation both there and in the Lytle Creek area near the Cajon Pass, where nearly 600 acres had been burned by another blaze.

A search team found a hiker Wednesday who spent a harrowing six days alone and lost in rain, snow and freezing temperatures in the mountains of the San Bernardino National Forest, authorities said. "I'm happy to be alive. I'm very grateful," said Jennifer Isbell, 27, of Long Beach, after she was flown by helicopter from a rocky canyon several miles west of Palm Springs to a rescue command post in the San Jacinto Mountains near Idyllwild.

JARBIDGE, Nev. - To find Jarbidge - a town so isolated the federal government rates its air quality as some of the country's purest - my husband, Michael, and I spent hours covering 50 miles of a rock and dirt road, twisting and turning alongside rivers and through mountain passes. Of course, the drive would have been shorter if we hadn't stopped so often to take photographs. I had heard that Jarbidge Canyon held bizarre pillars of rock known as hoodoos, and that the 113,167-acre Jarbidge Wilderness was beautiful but that neither the canyon nor the area's 10,000-feet-plus peaks were visible from major highways.

Yosemite National Park can be a deceptive place. Things look safe that aren't, which the public was jarringly reminded of last week when the Merced River swept away two little boys who were cooling off with their mother near a footbridge some distance below Vernal Fall. A 10-year-old boy died and his 6-year-old brother is still missing. That section of the river looks relatively calm at this time of year, and the water is shallow right near the edge. But although things are generally drier this time of year, the water still surges powerfully through an area of granite boulders that can knock people out, hold them under water and damage spinal cords.

JARBIDGE, Nev. - To find Jarbidge - a town so isolated the federal government rates its air quality as some of the country's purest - my husband, Michael, and I spent hours covering 50 miles of a rock and dirt road, twisting and turning alongside rivers and through mountain passes. Of course, the drive would have been shorter if we hadn't stopped so often to take photographs. I had heard that Jarbidge Canyon held bizarre pillars of rock known as hoodoos, and that the 113,167-acre Jarbidge Wilderness was beautiful but that neither the canyon nor the area's 10,000-feet-plus peaks were visible from major highways.

If people whose homes border wilderness areas paid the real expenses for their way of life, the bill would be daunting. Maintaining a local fire crew capable of defending those homes against catastrophic wildfire is more than municipalities can manage. So taxpayers throughout the state have been picking up most of the tab by paying for Cal Fire, the state firefighting force that has primary responsibility for responding to blazes in wildfire-prone areas and brings in big, expensive equipment such as water-dropping aircraft.

Mining claims threaten to mar the borders of 10 iconic national parks and wilderness areas, particularly the Grand Canyon, where uranium claims have increased 2,000% since 2004, according to a new report by the Pew Environment Group. Mining companies have filed claims to the rights to copper, gold and other metals in addition to uranium in areas around Mt. Rushmore, Joshua Tree National Park and other famous refuges at an increased rate in the last five to seven years because of rising global prices, the Pew report said.

A new front has opened in the centuries-old battle over preserving federal lands in the West, with some advocates of a tighter border arguing that designating some lands as wilderness ? meaning they are so precious that no mechanized vehicle can enter ? hinders border security. The U.S. Border Patrol and other law enforcement agencies can take vehicles into wilderness areas while chasing lawbreakers. But to patrol the lands by vehicle, plant sensors or build operating bases, they must get permission from the federal agency controlling the region.

For months, Glendale's Deukmejian Wilderness Park has been closed to the public, first because its hillsides were scorched in last year's Station fire and then because winter storms eroded portions of the park and filled it with mud and debris. Just in time for the first day of summer, however, the "park closed" barrier was covered with a handwritten sign declaring it "open." Area residents have anxiously awaited the reopening of the park, which saw nearly all of its 709 acres blackened during the Station fire.

Yosemite National Park can be a deceptive place. Things look safe that aren't, which the public was jarringly reminded of last week when the Merced River swept away two little boys who were cooling off with their mother near a footbridge some distance below Vernal Fall. A 10-year-old boy died and his 6-year-old brother is still missing. That section of the river looks relatively calm at this time of year, and the water is shallow right near the edge. But although things are generally drier this time of year, the water still surges powerfully through an area of granite boulders that can knock people out, hold them under water and damage spinal cords.

Restaurants, seafood bars and even other shellfish providers are bemoaning the imminent demise of Drakes Bay Oyster Co., a Northern California business said to be responsible for nearly 40% of the state's oyster production. With “demand for good quality shellfish just going through the roof,” the company's shutdown “is going to squeeze some pricing up,” said John Finger, co-owner of nearby Hog Island Oyster Farm in Tomales Bay. “They were a big chunk of the local market for sure,” Finger said.

The idyllic sounds of rustling leaves and cascading snowmelt mixed with Scripture readings Saturday morning during a pre-Easter service held in a shady Angeles National Forest glen overlooking the east fork of the San Gabriel River. About 35 worshipers from throughout Southern California had gathered by the river to break bread, pray and show support for an ongoing campaign to bolster federal protections for the San Gabriel Mountains. The service was organized by San Gabriel Mountains Forever, a coalition of environmental and community groups including the Wilderness Society, the Sierra Club and Friends of the River.

Winds and low humidity stoked flames on the northern front of the huge Station fire Monday, while the western flank from La Cañada Flintridge to Acton remained quiet. "I feel very good with the progress made today," U.S. Forest Service incident commander Mike Dietrich said early Monday evening. "I would like to see more. We'll continue tonight and go after it tomorrow." The 157,200-acre blaze, the largest in the recorded history of Los Angeles County, was 56% contained. Winds blowing 30 to 40 mph energized the fire in the Pleasant View Ridge area of the San Gabriel Wilderness, north of Mt. Waterman.