**Statement of**

**Elena Daly, Director**

**National Landscape Conservation System**

**Bureau of Land Management**

**Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee**

**Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests**

**S. 2109, California Desert and Mountain Heritage Act**

**April 15, 2008**

Thank you for inviting me to testify on S. 2109, the California Desert
and Mountain Heritage Act. The Department of the Interior supports S.
2109 as it applies to BLM and NPS designations but would like the
opportunity to work with the subcommittee on a number of clarifications,
including acreage and mapping adjustments. We defer to the Department of
Agriculture on those designations on National Forest System lands.

The Department strongly supports Congressional efforts to resolve
wilderness designations throughout the West, and we welcome this
opportunity to further those efforts. Only Congress can determine
whether to designate Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) as wilderness or
release them for other multiple uses. We support the resolution of WSA
issues and stand ready to work with Congress toward this goal.

S. 2109 designates wilderness throughout Riverside County, California on
lands managed by the BLM, National Park Service (NPS) and Forest
Service. It also expands the BLM and Forest Service-managed Santa Rosa
and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument (designated by Public Law
106-351) as well as designates a number of Wild and Scenic rivers under
the management of the Forest Service.

S. 2109, as introduced, includes acreage numbers that do not match area
descriptions or the maps provided to the sponsors by the Department. We
are working with the sponsor and the subcommittee to make appropriate
corrections. Our discussions of the bill in this testimony will reflect
the updated acreage numbers.

Title I designates four new wilderness areas: Beauty Mountain and Pinto
Mountains Wilderness to be managed by the BLM as well as Cahuilla
Mountain and South Fork San Jacinto Wilderness to be managed by the
Forest Service.

The proposed new Beauty Mountain Wilderness would cover over 15,000
acres of BLM-managed lands. It is one of the last undeveloped areas in
the region; numerous outside groups recognize both its significance as
open space and the important resource values of Beauty Mountain. We
should note that the boundary for Beauty Mountain is arbitrarily set at
the Riverside County line. The second new BLM wilderness area, Pinto
Mountains wilderness, lies just to the north of the National Park
Service's Joshua Tree National Park and wilderness. Much has changed in
these areas during the last 15 years. In 1994, the California Desert
Protection Act changed the management landscape in the entire California
desert. That same year, much of the area was designated as critical
habitat for the threatened desert tortoise. This area is important
habitat for the desert bighorn sheep. Many inholdings have been acquired
by the State, private groups, or BLM that made this area more manageable
and enhanced their wilderness characteristics. Far fewer mining claims
exist in the area than were there15 years ago. These areas are currently
primarily non-motorized.

In addition, Title I expands six existing wilderness areas that were
designated under Public Law 103-433 the California Desert Protection Act
and earlier wilderness bills: Agua Tibia, Orocopia Mountains,
Palen/McCoy, and Chuckwalla Mountains Wilderness managed by the BLM;
Joshua Tree National Park Wilderness managed by NPS; and additions to
the Santa Rosa Wilderness within Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains
National Monument managed by both the BLM and the Forest Service. The
expansions, which will improve manageability, protect important resource
values and improve dispersed recreational opportunities, range from a
mere 500-acre addition to the existing Agua Tibia Wilderness to a large
23,000-acre addition to the Palen/McCoy Wilderness. Other additions
include 5,000 acres to the Orocopia Mountains Wilderness and 13,000
acres to the Chuckwalla Mountains Wilderness. These expanded wilderness
designations are possible now because of acquisitions of land by the BLM
and changes in on-the-ground conditions that have occurred since the
original wilderness designations.

Within the boundary of Joshua Tree National Park, section 102(f) of S.
2109 designates 36,800 acres of land in non-contiguous parcels as
wilderness. All of these lands are wilderness quality. Of these acres,
about 8,400 acres were designated only as potential wilderness as part
of the original wilderness designation for Joshua Tree National Park in
1976 (Public Law 94-567), because they were privately owned or used for
non-wilderness purposes. The lands now are owned by the National Park
Service and are appropriate for wilderness designation. Another 28,400
acres, owned by the National Park Service, are located in a roadless
area west of the Cottonwood Entrance. A draft study conducted by the
National Park Service supports wilderness designation for these lands.

Section 103 of S. 2109 designates as potential wilderness approximately
43,100 acres of land along the park's southwestern boundary. This area
is physically inaccessible and has no available water source. As such,
the park already is managing this area as wilderness. About one-third of
the acreage is in private ownership, and the National Park Service has
been working to acquire these lands with donated funds, on a
willing-seller basis. While we recognize the Congress' authority to
designate this area as potential wilderness, we would like to work with
the sponsor and the subcommittee to further clarify some ambiguities in
this section.

Finally, Title III of S. 2109 expands the boundary of the Santa Rosa and
San Jacinto Mountains National Monument by approximately 8,360 acres,
designating 2,990 of those acres as wilderness inside the monument.
Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument was originally
designated by Public Law 106-351. Since then, the communities, agencies,
and other interested members of the public in the Coachella Valley have
strongly embraced the Monument and take great pride in their many
achievements towards making the Monument a success story. The Santa Rosa
and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Advisory Committee fully
participated in the development of a management plan that is now in the
implementation phase. We support this proposed expansion, which would
enhance manageability of the monument and expand protection of important
habitat for the endangered Peninsular bighorn sheep.

S. 2109 is a result of a multi-year process undertaken by the California
Congressional delegation. This public process included engaging elected
officials, interest groups, local communities, and the affected land
managing agencies. We appreciate these efforts as we believe that local
input and consensus-building are essential ingredients to successful
wilderness bills. As this bill moves forward, we look forward to the
opportunity to work with the Committee on the corrections and amendments
discussed in this testimony and to ensure that the maps most accurately
reflect the intended boundaries.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I will be happy to answer any
questions.