On March 12, California’s U.S. Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla joined Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden in introducing the Smith River National Recreation Area Expansion Act, which would expand the Smith River National Recreation Area by 58,000 acres. This legislation should help boost the local fishing and recreation industries that many Californians rely on.
In 1990, Congress enacted legislation to establish the Smith River National Recreation Area (NRA) to protect the watershed, but the boundary of the NRA stopped at the Oregon border, leaving the North Fork of the Smith River and its tributaries unprotected. The NRA expansion would protect 74 miles of scenic rivers, including Baldface Creek, Chrome Creek, and nearby streams and permanently withdraw the land from new mining claims. Additionally, the legislation would task the U.S. Forest Service with the preparation of an updated recreation plan identifying specific plans for the entire National Recreation Area, and produce a special study of streams, fens, wetlands, and potentially unstable and vulnerable aquatic habitat areas.
Full text of the bill is available here, and a map of the proposed expansion may be found here.
For additional information, contact RCRC Senior Policy Advocate Staci Heaton.