Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation, and Working Forests Act

Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation, and Working Forests Act

This bill sets forth provisions concerning the restoration, economic development, and conservation of, and recreational access to, certain public lands in Northern California.

The bill establishes

• the South Fork Trinity-Mad River Restoration Area,
• the Northwest California Public Lands Remediation Partnership,
• the Trinity Lake and Del Norte County visitor centers,
• the Horse Mountain Special Management Area,
• the Elk Camp Ridge National Recreation Trail, and
• the Sanhedrin Conservation Management Area.

The bill designates

• specified federal lands as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System,
• the North Fork Wilderness as the North Fork Eel River Wilderness,
• specified federal lands as potential wilderness areas, and
• specified segments of certain rivers and creeks and of a specified river estuary as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

Also, the bill

• authorizes the use of certain forest residues for research and development of biobased products that result in net carbon sequestration;
• authorizes initiatives to restore degraded redwood forest ecosystems in the Redwood National Forest and state parks;
• requires studies concerning certain visitor accommodations and recreational trails in the Six Rivers, Shasta-Trinity, and Mendocino National Forests, as applicable;
• authorizes partnerships for trail and campground maintenance, public education, visitor contacts, and visitor center staffing on federal lands in Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity, and Del Norte Counties; and
• adjusts the boundaries of the Elkhorn Ridge Wilderness.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov