All development could be permanently banned on 288,000 acres of Central Coast land
Nearly 288,000 acres of land along the Central Coast could soon be under the highest level of protection granted by the federal government — including about 96,000 acres in San Luis Obispo County, 61,000 of which is in the Carrizo Plain National Monument.
Congressman Salud Carbajal’s Central Coast Heritage Protection Act was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives as part of the National Defense Authorization Act in a 316-113 vote Thursday evening.
The bill has been in the works for more than a decade. Last year, the same bill passed the House, but the Senate failed to consider it, killing any forward progress.
This time around, however, there’s a bit more optimism in the air.
“This past year damaged our democracy, our economy and our collective national health. We were tested, but as we look ahead, I’m optimistic about our future,” Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, wrote in a Tribune viewpoint in January. “With a new administration and fresh ideas on Capitol Hill, I’m reassured that the best days for the American people and our treasured public lands are yet to come.”
In total, should the bill pass, it would set aside nearly 288,000 acres as wilderness areas and 35,000 acres for national scenic areas in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.
Additionally, the 400-mile “Condor Trail” would be designated as a National Scenic Trail. It would run from Santa Clarita north to San Luis Obispo.
The bill also sets aside 159 miles of streams in Santa Barbara County for wild and scenic river status.
Designation of a certain area as wilderness prohibits any development from occurring within its boundaries, including oil drilling. A scenic area designation allows for development as long as it is managed in a way that “conserves, protects and enhances the resources of the scenic areas,” according to Carbajal’s bill.
In San Luis Obispo County, 79,455 acres would be set aside as proposed and potential wilderness areas, the bill says.
Of that, 61,033 would be in the Carrizo Plain National Monument, and the remaining acreage would be in the Los Padres National Forest.
The Bureau of Land Management has approved an oil and gas company’s application for a permit to drill, operate a new well and construct a pipeline on the Carrizo Plain lands. Subsequently, a lawsuit was filed by two environmental groups in December challenging that approval.
However, Carbajal’s bill does not protect the portion of the Carrizo Plain lands where the oil operations were proposed.
Areas of the Santa Lucia, Garcia and Machesna Mountain wilderness areas east of San Luis Obispo would be expanded under the bill.
Another 16,216 acres would be set aside as a scenic area in the Black Mountain region of the Los Padres National Forest in San Luis Obispo County.
The remaining 192,000 acres designated in Carbajal’s bill would be set aside as additional wilderness and scenic areas in Santa Barbara County.
“This National Defense Authorization Act includes measures to conserve public lands in California and across the country, and would ensure that everyone, especially underserved communities, can enjoy the outdoors,” Roberto Morales, chair of the Sierra Club’s Nature for All Coalition, said in a prepared statement Wednesday. “Protecting nature and increasing access to the outdoors provides immense benefits to our health, economy and environment — especially at a time we need it most.”
The bill is now headed to the U.S. Senate for consideration.
This story was originally published September 25, 2021 at 10:00 AM.
