NEWS ANALYSIS : Wilson Must Win Funding for His Environment Plan

The success of the ambitious environmental agenda outlined Monday by Gov. Pete Wilson will depend in large part on his ability to persuade the Legislature and voters to spend more money.

The new governor also will have his work cut out if he is to meet his goal of finding a solution this year to the long-running fight between the timber industry and environmentalists over logging in Northern California.

Nevertheless, at a time when the state is facing a $12.6-billion shortfall, Wilson’s 14-point conservation proposal has elevated the environment to a level of importance unseen during the Administration of his predecessor, Gov. George Deukmejian.

The governor’s proposal was welcomed by environmentalists, who said they are eager to see the state play a bigger role in protecting the environment after eight years of neglect.

“We’re talking with the Administration (almost) daily,” said Gerald Meral, lobbyist for the Planning and Conservation League. “It’s a wonderful experience. I’m thoroughly enjoying it,” he said.

Despite concern over some provisions of the governor’s plan, business leaders also were supportive of Wilson’s effort.

“I like the overall thrust of what the governor is trying to do,” said Kirk West, president of the California Chamber of Commerce. “I think that there will be some in business who have a problem with parts of it, but most of it does look very positive.”

Wilson formally unveiled his proposal in an Earth Day speech to several hundred employees of the Resources Agency, who oversee many of the state’s environmental programs.

“What we need is a new era of consensus--of determination to bring together business leaders and backpackers to apply reason and imagination in a good-faith effort at mutual accommodation,” Wilson said.

Specifically, the governor’s plan calls for putting on the June, 1992, ballot a $628-million bond measure to acquire forests, wetlands and parklands, including property in the Santa Monica Mountains and along the coast.

Wilson’s plan also calls for preserving the habitat of endangered species through negotiations with developers, creating a Riparian Habitat Conservancy to acquire sensitive river areas, and strengthening the Coastal Commission to better protect the California coast.

Unlike previous bond measures, Wilson’s proposal would not finance any local park projects. Instead, the governor is calling for a constitutional amendment that would allow passage of local parks bonds with a simple majority vote, rather than the two-thirds required now.

The proposed bond measure and constitutional amendment require approval by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature and a majority of voters. If the state’s financial situation does not improve, lawmakers and the public may be unlikely to agree to such spending.

Last November, faced with an uncertain economy and a lengthy ballot, voters rejected a wide variety of bond measures, including Proposition 149, a $437-million park measure.

Furthermore, local park activists and their allies in the Legislature may resist the shift of financing authority for local parks from the state to the cities and counties. They fear some local jurisdictions might not muster the support to pass local park bonds and would suffer from the lack of state funding.

Meral, of the Planning and Conservation League, who has been preparing to launch a competing park bond initiative on next year’s ballot, said he could be persuaded to support Wilson’s plan if the governor ensures that state and local park needs are provided for.

Perhaps the biggest environmental challenge facing the governor is mediating the fight over the timber harvest in Northern California.

Some environmentalists have threatened to launch an initiative next year to place strict limits on logging if the Legislature does not approve a compromise worked out by the Sierra Club and Sierra Pacific Industries, the state’s largest timber company. The proposed timber compromise would limit clear-cutting, protect watersheds and restrict the timber harvest to the rate of growth.

Most other timber companies--particularly those that harvest redwoods along the North Coast--have rejected the plan as too restrictive. Democrats are pushing the proposal in the Legislature.

Wilson said he has called on Resources Secretary Douglas P. Wheeler to bring the warring sides together and negotiate a “broader agreement for both sustainable forestry and forest protection throughout our state.”

“I want to sign legislation enacting this agreement, and I want to sign it before the end of the year,” the governor said.