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The California Wilderness Act of 1984 is a federal law (Public Law 98-425), passed by the United States Congress on September 28, 1984, that authorized the addition of over 〔( Wilderness.net Law Library )〕 within the state of California to the National Wilderness Preservation System. == Background-Roadless Areas == The historic Wilderness Act passed in 1964 provided guidelines and provisions for future wilderness additions, of which this California Act is one of. One key provision called for evaluating roadless areas for future wilderness classification. The US Forest Service began its evaluation in 1967 and was known as the Roadless Area Review and Evaluation or "RARE."〔Godfrey p.477〕 Each area had to be at least , have only foot trails, and be undeveloped. The first evaluation and inventory was completed in April 1972 and after public input, a final list of 16 roadless areas came out in 1973. This list had three-quarters of a million acres (4,000 km²) of public land spread across 12 national forests. A second evaluation (RARE II) was done in 1977 that was more extensive and had more time for public input. It was completed and published in 1978. RARE II guidelines were a bit more relaxed than its predecessor. It allowed slight traces of human impact, such as limited fencing, old fire towers and unimproved roads, as long as these traces did not disturb the "wilderness" ambiance. This second inventory had 69 roadless areas totaling almost , 176 non-wildernesss areas of about and 118 further planning areas.〔Godfrey p.509〕 At this point in history, things got a bit complicated. The state of California sued the US Forest Service〔California v. Bergland, . Supp. 465 (E.D.Cal. 1980) and California v. Block, 690 F.2d 753 (9th Cir. 1982)〕 charging that the agency's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process was faulty as it only had public comments from northern California and had ignored the remaining 97.5 per cent of the state's population. In a letter, Regional Forester Smith commented, "...On balance, I think RARE II was a success...for the first time somebody thought about what the wilderness system ought to look like when it was complete. For the first time somebody took the time to estimate the criteria and characteristics of a complete National Wilderness Preservation System. RARE II ...brought the question of land use, particularly wilderness, to the attention of more people in this country than any other effort." Source: letter from Zane G. Smith, Jr to Dr. Richard P. Gayle Feb.4, 1982 Box 3, 95-91-0003 National Archive Record Center San Bruno, CA The old 1978 inventory was updated and revised in 1983 but was still too controversial in many states. It finally came down to a state-by-state basis instead of a nationwide recommendation. The California Wilderness Act included the inventoried roadless areas from RARE II as well as other areas recommended by environmentalists. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「California Wilderness Act of 1984」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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