President Obama to protect huge Berryessa wildland

President Obama announced that he will protect a huge swath of land stretching 100 miles from the shores of Lake Berryessa to the flanks of Snow Mountain, a longtime dream of local residents and North Bay politicians. The White House said the 331,000-acre wildland area known as Berryessa Snow Mountain is one of three national monuments that the president is protecting for a total of more than a million acres of public land. The sprawling woodland area, which falls within Napa, Mendocino, Lake, Solano and Yolo counties, is home to a rich array of wildlife, including bald and golden eagles, black bears, mountain lions and tule elk. Rare plants found nowhere else on Earth grow throughout the region, according to conservationists. The problem is, the area has been a jurisdictional mishmash, with the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Forest Service governing various tracts. Putting it all under one agency has been a cause celebre for Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, who introduced legislation in 2012 to have the area designated a National Conservation Area. The idea languished in Congress despite widespread local support...more