The California Wilderness Act of 1984 is a federal law (Public Law 98-425), passed by the United States Congress on September 28, 1984, that authorized the addition of over within the state of California to the National Wilderness Preservation System. Conservation activist George Whitmore later credited the Act with establishing "the longest stretch of de facto wilderness in the lower 48 states."
Background-Roadless Areas
The federal Wilderness Act passed in 1964 provided guidelines and provisions for future wilderness additions, of which this California Act is one. One key provision called for evaluating roadless areas for future wilderness classification. The US Forest Service began its evaluation in 1967 and was known as the Roadless Area Review and Evaluation or "RARE." Each area had to be at least , have only foot trails, and be undeveloped. The first evaluation and inventory was completed in April 1972 and after public input, a final list of 16 roadless areas came out in 1973. This list had three-quarters of a million acres (4,000 km²) of public land spread across 12 national forests. A second evaluation (RARE II) was done in 1977 that was more extensive and had more time for public input. It was completed and published in 1978. RARE II guidelines were a bit more relaxed than its predecessor. It allowed slight traces of human impact, such as limited fencing, old fire towers and unimproved roads, as long as these traces did not disturb the "wilderness" ambiance. This second inventory had 69 roadless areas totaling almost , 176 non-wildernesss areas of about and 118 further planning areas. Then things got a bit complicated. The state of California sued the US Forest Service charging that the agency's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process was faulty as it only had public comments from northern California and had ignored the remaining 97.5 per cent of the state's population. In a letter, Regional Forester Smith commented,
The old 1978 inventory was updated and revised in 1983 but was still too controversial in many states. It finally came down to a state-by-state basis instead of a nationwide recommendation.
The California Wilderness Act included the inventoried roadless areas from RARE II as well as other areas recommended by environmentalists.
Special provisions
The California Wilderness Act of 1984 contains several special provisions allowing certain uses and activities within the wilderness areas that are otherwise prohibited. These exemptions are:
1. Motorized access-
§101(a)(2) and (25) allow continued access for livestock facilities in two specific areas which are the Wolf Creek drainage area in the Toiyabe National Forest (Carson-Iceberg Wilderness) and the Heitz Meadow Guard Station area (San Joaquin /Ansel Adams wilderness areas) §101(a)(6) allows motorized administrative use of the Buckhorn Fire Road between the contiguous areas of Dick Smith Wilderness and the San Rafael Wilderness. §101(a)(24) allows a right-of-way corridor for construction, within 10 years, of a transmission powerline. If the powerline is constructed, the corridor will no longer be within the wilderness boundary of the San Jacinto Wilderness.
2. Water Infrastructure-
§101(a)(25) protects rights for water diversion and use, including construction, operation, maintenance, and repair in the hydroelectric project on the North Fork San Joaquin River.
Minaret Area Considerations
When the Wilderness Act of 1964 was being drafted California politicians were concerned about maintaining the viability of plans for a Trans-Sierra Highway connecting the Eastern Sierra and the San Joaquin Valley. These plans centered on the Minaret Summit area as the distance between the end of Minaret Road, which runs northeast into the Sierras from North Fork, California, and the end of the Red's Meadow Road, running west from Mammoth Lakes, California is less than 10 miles. The Act excluded an area southwest of Minaret Summit to create a corridor for this possibility.
During his time as Governor of California, Ronald Reagan made a horse packing trip into the area. Afterwards he supported conservationists' efforts to prevent this highway. Reagan continued his efforts after being elected President in 1980 and his influence helped the area to eventually be designated as wilderness by this legislation. The Sierra Nevada escarpment is now a continuous wilderness from Round Mountain (near Inyokern) to Tioga Pass, a distance of about 150 miles.
