[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 145 (Thursday, September 27, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S12290]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. BOXER:
  S. 2109. A bill to designate certain Federal lands in Riverside 
County, California, as wilderness, to designate certain river segments 
in Riverside County as a wild, scenic, or recreational river, to adjust 
the boundary of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National 
Monument, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today, I am proud to introduce the 
California Desert and Mountain Heritage Act. This bipartisan 
legislation will protect nearly 200,000 acres of pristine and 
ecologically sensitive lands in Riverside County as Wilderness or 
Potential Wilderness, the highest level of protection and conservation 
for Federal public lands in American law.
  Over the past year, I worked with my colleague, Representative Mary 
Bono, who represents the areas protected in this bill. Together, we 
worked to reach consensus with local officials, environmentalists, 
businesses, sportsmen, and Indian tribes. The result is this 
bipartisan, bicameral bill.
  Riverside County contains some of California's, indeed, America's, 
most spectacular desert and mountain vistas and landscapes. The 
breathtaking lands protected in this bill also provide habitat for 
threatened bighorn sheep and the desert tortoise, as well as many other 
species such as mule deer, mountain quail, and bald eagles.
  Specifically, the bill protects 150,531 acres of lands as wilderness, 
highest level of protection and conservation for Federal public lands 
in American law. Another 41,100 acres of land would be designated as 
potential wilderness. Once the final inholding claims are settled by 
the National Park Service, these lands will become ``wilderness'' 
without the necessity of an additional act of Congress. In the 
meantime, these lands will be managed by the Park Service as 
``wilderness.''
  The bill also designates 31 miles of river as wild and scenic on four 
California Rivers: North Fork San Jacinto River, Fuller Mill Creek, 
Palm Canyon Creek, and Bautista Creek. These rivers are biologically 
important watersheds in this dry part of my State.
  Many of these lands were included in my statewide wilderness bill, 
the California Wild Heritage Act, which I reintroduced in February.
  The bill has broad, local support including from Riverside County 
supervisors, municipalities, chambers of commerce, environmentalists, 
sportsmen, and businesses. The bill includes important provisions 
clarifying that Federal agencies could use all the tools necessary to 
fight and prevent wildfires. The wilderness boundaries were drawn in 
consultation with local communities and tribes.
  I look forward to working with local interests and all of my 
colleagues to see this important legislation enacted.
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