Beauty worth saving

CACHE CREEK IS A LITTLE-KNOWN GEM flowing through the Coast Range from near Clear Lake to the Capay Valley, northwest of Sacramento. Despite the “creek” designation, Cache is as much a river as anything. It’s popular with whitewater rafters, is a feeding ground for the threatened bald eagle, flows through dramatic geologic areas and supports a large tule elk population. It’s only appropriate that 31 miles of upper Cache Creek in Yolo and Lake counties be afforded government protection.

Assemblywoman Lois Wolk (D-Davis) has sponsored a bill to do just that, designating it part of the California wild and scenic river system and thus making it off-limits to dams. The bill, which passed in both houses of the Legislature on largely party-line votes, was backed by nearly 80 diverse organizations, including the Sierra Club and the Woodland Chamber of Commerce. But it has a single major opponent -- the California Farm Bureau.

The Farm Bureau says conservation or development decisions should be made locally, and it argues that the measure fails to protect water rights. It’s shameful that 44 lawmakers in the two houses voted against the bill, putting politics and special economic interests ahead of California’s natural beauty. The wild rivers system exists because local governments in rural areas tend to favor commercial development over environmental protection. Wolk accepted extensive amendments to her bill to protect water rights.

The creek flows through federal land for much of the 31 miles slated for protection, so there is little or no local development in question. The bill also declares that state officials will not seek to have the creek included in the more-restrictive federal wild rivers system. The bill’s main purpose is simply to prevent the construction of dams.

Wolk worked hard to make her bill a bipartisan effort. Among Republicans supporting her is former Rep. Paul N. McCloskey, who farms on Cache Creek just below the 31-mile stretch. Farmers won’t lose a drop of water under the bill, McCloskey wrote in a letter to the governor. Yet only three GOP legislators voted for it: Sen. Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria and Assemblymen Tom Harman of Huntington Beach and Keith Richman of Northridge.

The governor is a great proponent of California’s natural beauty. He can take pride in helping to protect it by signing the Cache Creek bill into law.