The future of California’s wild forests is now a little more secure, thanks to steps Gov. Schwarzenegger has taken to protect our national forests.

On July 12, Gov. Schwarzenegger petitioned the federal government to protect all 4.4 mil-lion acres of California’s wild forests, saying, “Today, we are taking action to keep our pris-tine forests roadless and in their natural state. It is critical that we safeguard these areas.”

The governor’s decision is a major step for-ward in a nine-year campaign by Environment California staff to make sure that our nation-al forests are around for future generations.

Here’s how it happened.

Starting in 1997, Environment California Research and Policy Center and our sis-ter organizations around the country initi-ated a campaign that led over 1.4 million people—187,000 from California alone—to write, e-mail or call the U.S. Forest Service in support of the Roadless Rule. This was the largest number of public comments ever received by the federal government. The Roadless Rule, which was finally enacted in 2001, protected the last third of America’s national forests from road building and drilling, while allowing road construction to fight fires, ensure public safety, and allow brush clearing to protect forest health. The Roadless Rule shielded the clean drinking water, wildlife habitat, and endless oppor-tunities for recreation and solitude that our wild forests provide.

However, in 2004, the Bush administration made it clear that they would disregard the -tremendous public support for forest protections and overturn the Rule.

Environment California Research & Policy Center immediately compiled data for the argument to support the crucial role of roadless areas. In November 2004, we released “Our Natural Legacy,” which detailed the economic and recreational value of these areas. Then, building support for the policy, Environment California advocates worked with the media to generate stories in papers across the state.

The administration followed through on its threat, and in May 2005 repealed the Rule. However, they also gave states the right to petition to protect their forests. Legislative Director Dan Jacobson immediately went towork with the governor’s staff to petition the federal government to protect 100 percent of California’s wild forests.

While we were encouraged when Gov. Schwarzenegger made a num-ber of public comments in support of protecting our roadless areas, we knew that oil and gas companies were interested in opening our forests to drilling. The oil and gas industries have a very special relationship with the U.S. Forests Service, and plans that we saw for four Southern California forests confirmed our belief that a real threat to our forests was at hand. We had to convince the governor that in addition to making public statements about this issue, he was going to have to take on the oil and gas companies and deny them the opportunity to drill in these special areas.

To convince him, we issued reports on why these areas are important. We went door-to-door and organized at the local level. Over 10,000 Environment California members and other citizens sent postcards and e-mails to the governor on this issue. Members also shared pho-tos of themselves and their families in California forests—photos Jacobson used in meetings with legislators and the governor’s staff to demonstrate how much our forests mean to Californians—and wrote letters to the editor in local newspapers asking the governor to stand up to the president and protect our wild forests.
“This is a giant step toward permanent protection of our wild forests, but the fight is not over,” said Jacobson. “The oil and gas industries still want to drill in our national forests and we will continue to lead the fight to make sure the Bush administration listens to the governor and the people of California and approves and fully implements the forest protection recommendations.”