Feinstein’s Desert Bill
Feinstein’s decision to make the protection of the California desert her first legislative effort is right on target. The Reagan/Bush administrations, with Sens. Wilson and Seymour in league, failed to provide any leadership to address the well-documented need to set aside wilderness areas and to designate Death Valley and Joshua Tree as national parks and create the Mojave National Park.
Feinstein’s critics are the usual suspects. Off-road vehicle owners who don’t want any restrictions on their roaring across the fragile desert. Miners who want to use the 1872 mining law to rip off the U.S. Treasury with $2-an-acre patents and inadequately enforced environmental protection. These selfish people should not be allowed to bully their greed over the public’s legitimate interest in preserving the natural and cultural resources in the California desert.
BOB HARTMAN
Lemon Grove
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