New Poll: Californians “Go Wild” For Wilderness
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Los Angeles, CA - California is on its way to becoming a much "wilder" state, with almost 800,000 acres being considered for protection. According to a new poll by Zogby International, such protection would be welcomd by the public. The poll says 90 percent of American voters believe it's important to protect land as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
Ryan Henson with the California Wilderness Coalition says the California lands proposed for protection are threatened by mining, logging and off-road recreational vehicles.
"These threats are constant and I think that the value of protected public lands will only increase over time as California continues to become more crowded."
Congress is currently considering bills to protect land in Riverside County, the Eastern Sierra, and around Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park. More than 70 percent of those surveyed say they are more likely to support a presidential candidate who strongly supports wilderness protection.
Mike Matz, executive director of the Campaign for America's Wilderness, says the poll explains why Congress is considering about a dozen wilderness bills, including three in California.
"There was a real drought that the country went through, in which not much wilderness was designated, but now we seem to be seeing a renaissance."
More information on the California Wilderness Coalition is available online at
www.calwild.org. More on the Campaign for America's Wilderness can be found at www.leaveitwild.org. A map of the National Wilderness Preservation System is available on the Web at www.wilderness.net.
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