Central Coast protection act would give priceless gift of open space to future generations

Our family bought our Gillis Canyon Ranch in 1935, 50 years after arriving here from Scotland with dreams of building a life on this abundant land. Family members were ahead of their time in understanding the importance of protecting wild, open spaces, and they took steps to safeguard large swaths of land that provided habitat for animals like the endangered California condor. We’re so grateful for their foresight to preserve this priceless gift, and it’s now our job to do the same for our grandchildren by protecting public lands on the Central Coast.

We consider ourselves “keepers” of the land more than anything else, because we know the hard work we put in every day will provide a priceless gift for future generations. And while we’re the keepers now, our children, grandchildren and beyond will someday take on this responsibility. From our perspective, this responsibility applies not only to our ranch, but to the 245,000 acres of public lands that surround our special community.

That’s why we support legislation known as the Central Coast Heritage Protection Act. Our beloved Central Coast public lands belong to generations past, present and future, and we must embrace the historic opportunity to protect these precious places for years to come.

Championed by Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Lois Capps, the Central Coast Heritage Protection Act would designate four new wilderness areas and expand nine existing wilderness areas in the Los Padres National Forest and Carrizo Plain National Monument. The bill would protect 158.5 miles of wild and scenic rivers, and designate two new scenic areas totaling 35,000 acres.

The proposed wilderness designation would preserve habitat for threatened and endangered species like the California condor, southern steelhead and majestic tule elk and pronghorn antelope. It would also provide for people the gift of open space, dark night skies, quiet solitude and freedom from daily pressures.

The legislation is an extraordinary chance to achieve the first wilderness protection on the Central Coast in 20 years and leave an invaluable legacy for our children and grandchildren.

This month, we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Los Padres National Forest. The legislation would honor this precious place and all it has contributed to our region, all while ensuring that future generations will enjoy the same gift.

With the retirements of Sen. Boxer and Rep. Capps at the end of this year, the torch of their land conservation legacies is passing. We urge their successors, Sen.-elect Kamala Harris and Rep.-elect Salud Carbajal, to hit the ground running by prioritizing public lands. Championing this effort will put their commitment to land protection front and center, and illustrate how protecting public lands is crucial to our economy, businesses and the health of our communities.

We urge our legislators to help provide the gift of protected public lands to families across the region by advocating for the Central Coast Heritage Protection Act.

This story was originally published December 23, 2016 at 6:14 PM with the headline "Central Coast protection act would give priceless gift of open space to future generations."