On Monday, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla introduced The Protecting Unique and Beautiful Landscapes by Investing in California (PUBLIC) Lands Act, which would expand protections for over one million acres of California’s public lands.  The bill would also designate nearly 600,000 acres of new wilderness, more than 583 miles of new wild and scenic rivers, and expand an existing national monument by more than 100,000 acres.  The legislative package consists of three bills that were originally introduced in the House including:

  • The Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation, and Working Forests Act – introduced by Representative Jared Huffman (D-Marina),
  • The Central Coast Heritage Protection Act – introduced by Representative Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara)
  • The San Gabriel Mountains Foothills and Rivers Protection Act - introduced by Representative Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park)

The PUBLIC Act also compliments Governor Gavin Newsom’s “30 by 30” effort, which would conserve 30 percent of land and coastal water by the year 2030.

A one-pager on the PUBLIC Lands Act can be found here. Full text of the PUBLIC Lands Act can be found here.