Napa Valley Register - Berryessa rancher endorses planned conservation area

U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, and a Napa County rancher testified before a congressional subcommittee Tuesday in support of Thompson's proposal to designate 350,000 acres of Northern California wilderness as a national conservation area.

The area would stretch from Snow Mountain in the north to Lake Berryessa in the south, with portions of Napa, Mendocino, Lake, Solano and Yolo counties. Thompson has sponsored a bill that would create the designation.

Thompson and Napa County rancher Judy Ahmann told the House Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation that creating the national conservation area would permanently protect the land and unite the territory under a single management plan.

The land is all federally owned and the designation would not affect private lands unless the owners wanted to opt in. Portions are managed by the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Thompson said the legislation would aid in maintaining the land as habitat for bald eagles, mountain lions, black bears, elk and other plants and animals. It could help attract new money for conservation efforts, as national conservation areas are eligible for special funding in the federal budget.

“This is one of the largest regions of relatively undisturbed public lands in California and can be easily visited from both the Sacramento and San Francisco areas,” Thompson testified. “This makes it an ideal area for wildlife and public recreation. The Berryessa Snow Mountain Region is a national treasure. We have a responsibility to preserve it and make sure the region is managed efficiently and responsibly.”

His proposal has not been without critics; many land and home owners at Lake Berryessa expressed concerns with the proposal in a meeting with Thompson last fall.

Residents said they feared the national conservation area would supersede established plans for recreation at Lake Berryessa, and worried that could lead to an attempt to ban motorized watercraft on the lake's waters.

They questioned the need to put the lake and the areas surrounding it into a broader area stretching 100 miles to Snow Mountain and the Mendocino National Forest.

Thompson attempted to allay those fears by writing into the bill language specifying that it won't impact any use of private property or motorized watercraft on the lake. It doesn't change use of motorized vehicle trails, hunting, fishing or firearms, nor does it affect existing grazing lands included within the national conservation area's boundaries.

Judy Ahmann told the subcommittee that she and her husband, John, have a 3,000-acre cattle ranch on the northeast side of Lake Berryessa. She favored the unified management plan, saying it will help fire suppression, invasive plant eradication and cracking down on illegal marijuana grows.

“I live and work in an incredible place,” Ahmann testified. “A national conservation area designation will keep the region the way it is, creating a lasting legacy of public enjoyment of the outdoors for activities like hunting, grazing, hiking and rafting.”