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DEC 20, 2005
Officials Withdraw New Management
Plan, Citing
Technical Errors
Agency Will Re-Release the Plan in January, Allowing More
Public Review
MORE >>
DEC 13, 2005
Forest Service Proposes New Policy to Exempt Oil
Drilling From Environmental Studies and Public
Oversight
Proposal
Could Increase the Pace of New Oil Drilling in
Los Padres Forest
MORE >>
DEC 9, 2005
Congress Proposes Legislation to Sell Forestland at Bargain
Prices; Law Dropped After
Public Outcry
Last month, a California
congressman quietly inserted a provision into a hundred-page
budget bill that could precipitate one of the largest land
giveaways in American history. The new law, passed by the
House but dropped after public outcry, would have allowed
mining conglomerates and other developers to buy public
lands at bargain-basement prices. Thousands of acres of the
Los Padres National Forest were at stake.
MORE >>
NOV 15, 2005
ForestWatch Appeals Plan to Illegally Expand Grazing In Big Sur
Coastal Wilderness
Agency Violates Wilderness Act By Allowing Cattle Grazing to
Encroach in the Silver Peaks Wilderness Area
MORE >>
NOV 14, 2005
Bureau of Land Management Announces Oil Land
Auction Along Forest Boundary
The Bureau
of Land Management (BLM) recently announced that it will conduct a
competitive lease sale that could pave the way for oil drilling
on sensitive lands near the Los Padres National Forest. Other
areas on the auction block include the Wind Wolves Preserve, the
Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, and the Cuyama River.
Over 10,000 acres of controversial lands are at stake.
MORE >>
NOV 9, 2005
Forest Service Issues
New Regulations for Off-Road Vehicle Routes
Updated Rules Could
Reduce Damage from Illegal ORV Routes
MORE >>
NOV 8, 2005
Malibu Oil Tycoon
Submits Plans to Drill
Inside Carrizo Plain Monument
Drilling Threatens Rare Wildlife in the San Luis
Obispo's Cuyama
Valley
OCT 17, 2005
VICTORY! Agency Vows to Prepare Study of Logging
Plans;
Fate Remains Uncertain for Figueroa Mountain, Frazier Mountain,
Pine Mountain, Mount Pinos, and Mount Abel
In response to concerns voiced by ForestWatch, the
Forest Service has agreed to prepare detailed Environmental
Assessments before allowing logging in six areas of the Los Padres National
Forest. The logging projects cover 7,350 acres of
forestland in popular recreation areas like Frazier Mountain in
Ventura County, Figueroa Mountain in Santa Barbara County, and
Mount Piños and Cerro Noroeste in Ventura and Kern counties.
MORE >>
SEP 23, 2005
New Management Plan
Released for Los Padres National Forest
Revised Guidelines Will Govern
Development on
Forest for Next Decade
MORE >>
SEP 15, 2005
Conservation Groups File Appeal to Halt
More Oil Drilling in National Forest; Attorney General Also
Challenges the Decision
Three conservation groups today filed an administrative appeal
challenging a recent decision by the U.S. Forest Service to
expand oil drilling in California's Los Padres National Forest.
The state Attorney General's Office also filed a separate appeal
of the decision on Tuesday.
MORE>>
JUL 28, 2005
Agency Approves
Plan to Expand Oil Drilling on 52,075 Acres of the Los Padres
National Forest
Today,
the U.S. Forest
Service approved a plan that will allow oil drilling to expand
into some of the most pristine areas of the Los Padres National
Forest. The decision - nearly a decade in the making - could
cause widespread impacts to the forest's clean water supplies,
recreation, wilderness, and wildlife. MORE>>
JUL 15, 2005
Judge
Orders Forest Service to Increase Public Involvement - Officials Must Allow
More Citizen Appeals
and Public Access to Documents
In a victory
for citizen groups, a federal district court judge ruled earlier
this month that the Forest Service must allow citizen appeals
even on projects that are excluded from studies under the
National Environmental Policy Act. Two days
earlier, another judge in a different case ordered the Forest
Service to allow public access to technical studies before – not
after – the agency approves activities on public lands. These two
rulings, which take effect immediately, apply to all national
forests across the country, including the Los Padres
National Forest.
MORE>>
JUL 13, 2005
Capps
Reintroduces Legislation to Ban Drilling in Los Padres
- The
Bill Comes Just Days Before Oil Drilling Expands into New Areas
of the National Forest
Congresswoman Lois Capps today
announced the reintroduction of the Los Padres National Forest
Conservation Act, which would permanently ban new oil and gas
development in the Forest. Any day now, the Forest Service is
poised to issue its decision opening up sensitive areas of the
forest to new oil drilling.
MORE>>
JUN 20, 2005
Oil &
Mining Industries Stake Claim to Vast Portions of Los Padres
National Forest; Analysis Reveals Industry
Control of Public Lands in
the West
A recent
investigation of 1,855 natural treasures in the West revealed
that oil drilling and mining interests control land in or near
more than two-thirds of national parks, forests, wilderness
areas, wildlife refuges, and other public lands. The Los Padres
National Forest has one of the highest rates of industry control
in the West, and the report comes at a time when officials are
finalizing their plans to open up new areas there to oil
drilling.
MORE>>
Jun 14, 2005
Visitor
Fees No Longer Required for Most of Los Padres Forest -
But Agency Continues to Charge Fees for Visiting the Most
Popular Recreation Areas
The Forest
Service announced today that the widely unpopular Adventure Pass
program would be suspended for most areas of the Los Padres
National Forest and other national forests across the
country. However, the agency will still charge fees at all of
the heavily-used areas of the Los Padres National Forest.
MORE>>
MAY 13, 2005
Administration Repeals Protections for
Roadless Areas Across the Country
Today, the Administration
published its final plans to overturn the popular Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The new regulation
eliminates protections for over 58.5 million acres of roadless
wildlands across the nation, placing the country's last
remaining untouched forests at risk to new road
construction and development. The decision places at risk over
636,000 acres of wildlands in the Los Padres National Forest.
MORE>>
MAR 30, 2005
Los Padres Listed as a Top-Ten Most Threatened Wild
Places for Fourth Consecutive Year; Oil & ORV Abuse to Blame
A new
report, released today by the California Wilderness Coalition,
details the Golden State's ten most threatened wild places.
Based on surveys completed by conservation groups, scientists,
and other wildland experts, the report concluded that the Los
Padres National Forest remains one of the state's most imperiled
areas. Oil drilling and illegal off-road vehicle use are cited
as the main threats to the forest.
MORE>>
MAR 7,
2005
VICTORY! ForestWatch
Appeals Eight Grazing Allotments Along Big Sur Coast, Agency
Withdraws Project
In response to an appeal filed by conservation groups, the
Forest Service announced today that it would withdraw its
decision authorizing livestock grazing on nearly 33,000 acres
along the Big Sur coastline in the Los Padres National Forest.
As approved, the grazing would have damaged sensitive habitats
for endangered species, polluted clean rivers, and interfered
with newly-designated wilderness areas.
MORE>>
MAR 1,
2005
Forest May Be Opened to Oil & Gas Leasing in 60-90 Days:
Forest Service Says Decision is Imminent
The Forest Service is preparing to finalize its decision that
could dramatically expand oil and gas drilling in the Los Padres
National Forest. A decision is now expected in May 2005. In a
formal letter to the public dated February 22, 2005, Supervisor
Gloria Brown says that she expects to release the Final
Environmental Impact Statement and announce her decision within
the next 60 to 90 days.
MORE>>
NOV 8, 2005
Malibu Oil Tycoon
Submits Plans to Drill
Inside Carrizo Plain Monument
FEB
25, 2005
Logging
Proposed on Figueroa and Frazier
Mountains
FEB
17, 2005
Report:
Forest
Service Failing to Follow Environmental Laws
DEC 23, 2004
Administration Weakens Forest Planning Regulations
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