Death Valley, Joshua Tree national parks would grow under Senate-passed bill

WASHINGTON — The Senate passed a major package of land and conservation legislation Tuesday that would protect hundreds of thousands of acres of California wilderness and increase the size of Death Valley and Joshua Tree national parks.

The bipartisan package of bills was approved by the Senate on a 92-8 vote, sending it to the Democratic-controlled House.

The legislation is a compilation of more than 100 bills that were negotiated by the two parties, and includes some key conservation priorities of California’s congressional delegation.

One of the bills is Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s desert legislation, which would protect more than 375,000 acres of new federal wilderness area.

Under the bill, Joshua Tree National Park would grow by 4,518 acres and Death Valley National Park would add nearly 36,000 acres, including 1,600 acres from the Mojave Desert Trust.

The bill also makes some off-roading vehicle recreational areas in San Bernardino County permanent and protects nearly 80 miles of waterways in Southern California.

Also included in the package is a bill from Feinstein transferring control of the Contra Costa Canal, co-sponsored in the House by Democratic Reps. Mark DeSaulnier of Concord, Jerry McNerney of Stockton and Mike Thompson of St. Helena.

The bill transfers authority over the canal to the Contra Costa Water District from the federal Bureau of Reclamation, allowing the local agency to build a surface tunnel to enclose the 48-mile waterway. Covering the exposed canal would prevent accidents including drownings that have plagued the aqueduct, the lawmakers say.

“I’m delighted to see those moving,” Feinstein said of the bills. “They’re important.”

Other provisions from Feinstein and Sen. Kamala Harris included in the package would enhance protected land along the the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and the Santa Ana River in Southern California.

Also in the package is a bill by Harris that would help preserve historically black colleges and universities nationally.

The big-ticket item in the bill is the permanent authorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which has contributed billions for conservation in federal parks and wildlife land in California alone. It expires periodically, most recently in September.

The Senate bill would reauthorize it without setting an expiration, ending the cycle of requiring periodic approvals.

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