After so many years of stalled efforts and disappointments in the fight for more wilderness designation, 2006 ended with an exciting flurry of wilderness bills being signed into law. Great Old Broads has been an active supporter and advocate of many of these bills.

New England Wilderness Act Passes
The New England Wilderness Act increased designated wilderness areas in both Vermont and New Hampshire. The bill designates 42,000 acres of wilderness in six different parcels in New Hampshire’s White Mountain National Forest. The measure also created the Mount Moosalamoo National Recreation Area in Vermont, a 857-acre tract south and east of Middlebury, Vermont.

During Broads 2003 Vermont Broadwalk, Great Old Broads helped garner support for the New England Wilderness Act. “Dozens of Broads brought their trademark passion for wild nature to Vermont a couple of years ago,” says Jim Northup, Executive Director of Forest Watch, “infusing our wilderness campaign with a jolt of high energy, good humor, hard work and intelligence at a time when our spirits were flagging. Thanks to the help of those gorgeous, green-sneakered grannies, Congress approved, on November 15th, another 120 square miles of wilderness in New England.”

Valle Vidal Protection Act Signed
The 120,000-acre Valle Vidal unit of the Carson National Forest is renowned for its elk and other hunting opportunities and is prime habitat for recovering the Rio Grande cutthroat trout. The Forest Service has managed the area since Pennzoil Co., which never allowed drilling in the area, donated the tract to the federal government in 1982. This special area rises from around 7,800 feet to 12,544 feet at the summit of Little Costilla Peak, New Mexico’s third highest mountain.

The Forest Service undertook a process to determine whether or not to lease portions of the Valle Vidal for coal bed methane development. In response, a wide range of interests including sportsmen, local governments, tribes, the former president of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association and conservation groups joined together to oppose plans to allow drilling in the area. In 2005, Great Old Broads held a Broadwalk in the Valle Vidal to help garner support for legislation protecting this unique place from drilling. In September of 2005, Rep. Tom Udall and Sen. Jeff Bingham introduced legislation to withdraw the area from mineral entry and on December 13, 2006, after passing both the House and Senate, the Valle Vidal Protection Act was signed into law by President Bush.

New Wilderness for California’s North Coast
A grand sweep of wildlands in northern California is now protected forever from development. This is the first new wilderness for California in nearly four years, since Rep. Sam Farr’s Big Sur Wilderness and Conservation Act became law in December, 2002—shortly after Broads held a Broadwalk in the Big Sur area.

On October 17, 2006, President Bush signed into law the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act authored by Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Mike Thompson. This bill protects approximately 275,000 acres of new wilderness, including the incomparable King Range Wilderness on California’s north coast.

The legislation covers some of the most beautiful and majestic lands in five northern California counties – Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, and Napa. In a remarkable show of local support, 21 of the 24 county supervisors in the five counties encompassed by the bill were on record in favor. Both Republicans and Democrats expressed support for the bill, including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act designates key landscapes as wilderness and preserves segments of the Black Butte River as a wild and scenic river. Areas of special value include the King Range National Conservation Area and the Cedar Roughs Wilderness, with the world’s largest grove of the rare Sargent cypress. Endangered and threatened species whose habitats are protected by the bill include the bald eagle, California brown pelican, steelhead trout, coho salmon, northern spotted owl and Roosevelt elk.

Nevada Wilderness Bill Passes
On December 10, 2006, Congress passed the White Pine County Public Lands Bill as part of year-end omnibus legislation. While 557,000 acres of wilderness were designated, this was a quid pro quo wilderness bill that also surrendered 45,000 acres of federal lands to the county for development. Broads opposed this bill because we believe that wilderness protection should not occur at the cost of losing other public lands.