House OKs Landmark Desert Protection Bill : Environment: Measure expands federal responsibility for 7.1 million acres. Cranston and Seymour remain far apart on reaching a compromise for Senate package.

Fifteen years after Congress first pledged to preserve the California desert, the House on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved landmark legislation that would expand federal protection for 7.1 million acres of the state’s southeast corner.

The measure, the largest land protection bill in the continental United States, would designate 73 tracts as wilderness areas and place 4.1 million acres off limits to development, off-road vehicles and other potentially damaging uses. It also would upgrade protection of 3 million acres by transferring oversight responsibility from the Bureau of Land Management to the National Park Service.

“The California desert’s day in Congress has finally come,” said Rep. Mel Levine (D-Santa Monica), who introduced the legislation. “Its passage is a major victory for environmental protection in this country.”

Congress paved the way for permanent protection of desert wilderness in 1976 when it approved the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act. A decade later, Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) and Levine introduced similar measures, which have languished in both houses for five years.

The House approved the measure with strong bipartisan support, 297 to 136.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where Cranston and Sen. John Seymour (R-Calif.) have spent several months seeking a compromise on the amount of acreage covered and other differences. At this point, the two senators remain far apart and their agreement is a necessary first step if the measure is to get through the Senate.

“The House action strengthens our chances of getting a good desert protection bill through the Senate,” Cranston said Tuesday night.

Seymour was not so optimistic. While calling the bill a “small step in the right direction,” he said, “It’s still a long, long way from what most people would consider to be an acceptable compromise.”

The House measure has been criticized by the Bush Administration as too expansive and a threat to military, development and mining interests. The White House favors a plan proposed by Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) that would designate 62 wilderness areas and 2.3 million acres for protection. The Lewis alternative was soundly defeated by the House last week.

Lewis is one of four Republican lawmakers who represent the desert territory and vigorously oppose the House-approved bill because it would restrict some of the activities their constituents could enjoy on weekends and vacations in the desert.

“Let us call this bill by its real name,” said Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-San Diego), another desert lawmaker. “This is the desert lockout bill because it locks average, blue-collar Americans out.”

Covering more than 25 million acres, the California desert encompasses giant sand dunes, ancient cave paintings, ghost towns dating to the 1800s and tracks made by covered wagons more than a century ago. It also is home to 750 species of wildlife, including the endangered desert tortoise and big horn sheep.

The desert bill, according to the Sierra Club, represents “the most important environmental legislation” the House will consider during its current two-year session. While preserving desert plants and wildlife, the measure would leave open 33,000 miles of roads and jeep trails for recreation vehicles--enough to stretch 1 1/2 times around the world, environmentalists say.

“The bill is a real gift to California,” said Bob Hattoy, regional director of the Sierra Club for Southern California. “It breaks the cycle of uncontrolled growth and creates a legacy of parks and wild lands for this and future generations of Californians.”

The measure would add 1.3 million acres to the Death Valley National Monument and 225,000 acres to the Joshua Tree National Monument, and convert both areas into national parks. In addition, the bill would replace East Mojave National Scenic Area with Mojave National Monument, covering 1.5 million acres.

But California Republicans contend the bill goes too far. They say it would force layoffs of 20,000 miners currently working in the desert and adversely affect the desert warfare training at Ft. Irwin that was considered critical to the success of Desert Storm operations in the Persian Gulf.

Republicans contend that the bill also circumvents the “pay-as-you-go” provisions of last year’s federal budget agreement by arranging to compensate public and private landowners after 1995 if they fail to accept a property swap with the federal government.

“The authors propose the largest federal government land grab in history to occur in the contiguous 48 states,” said Rep. David Dreier (R-La Verne).

Republicans succeeded Tuesday in getting one of several amendments approved that would permit hunting within the proposed Mojave National Monument area. House members were heavily lobbied on the issue by the National Rifle Assn.

Democrats argue that they have provided numerous concessions for military, mining and recreation uses. Two amendments approved Tuesday would ensure that the bill does not affect a proposed expansion of Ft. Irwin or restrict military overflights above the desert. The bill also would eliminate 73,400 acres of protected area for the mining industry, which previously opposed the measure and now has offered its support.

“Business as usual for the California desert is not an option any longer,” said Rep. Richard Lehman (D-Sanger).

Desert Protection Act

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved landmark legislation that would protect 7.1 million acres of California desert. It is the largest land protection measure of its kind in the continental United States, involving 73 wilderness areas. Next, the measure goes to the Senate. Here is a look at the complex land proposal.