Ventana Wilderness Alliance
Protecting the Northern Santa Lucia

ADVOCACY

Ventana Wild Rivers Campaign

The VWA is involved in the ongoing Ventana Wild Rivers Campaign to garner permanent protection of our local wild rivers by securing their inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic River System.

Public Lands Livestock Grazing Reform

The VWA Grazing Committee works hard at safeguarding the interests of wildlife, habitat, sensitive species, heritage resources and recreation in local areas subject to the environmental pressures of public lands ranching.

NEPA & CEQA Issue Comment Letters

The VWA makes every attempt to formally comment on all NEPA and CEQA issues which have the potential to adversely impact the natural or cultural resources of the northern Santa Lucias.

Forest Plan Revisions Project

The VWA has submitted comments during the scoping phase of the forest plan revision process, and is commenting on the Draft Land Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement released by the Forest Service on May 14, 2004.

Fort Hunter Liggett Environmental Vigilance

Immediately adjacent to both the Ventana and Silver Peak Wilderness Areas, most of the wildlands of 165,000-acre Fort Hunter Liggett remain largely unspoiled. The VWA will continue to monitor and support the environmental protection of these wildlands.

Indians-Arroyo Seco Road

Connecting the Arroyo Seco area at its north end with The Indians/Memorial Park area 17 miles to the south, this single-lane dirt road is carved into precipitously steep mountainside high above the Arroyo Seco River. The VWA is requesting that the Forest Service assess the impacts of the road on the environment, its high degree of maintenance, visitor safety, and potential for increased law enforcement and patrol.

Monterey Ranger District Fire Management Plans

With the obscenely expensive Kirk Complex Fires of 1999 serving as a blunt reminder, the creation of a Fire Management Plan for the Monterey Ranger District of the Los Padres National Forest is long overdue. The Ventana Wilderness Alliance supports and encourages the timely creation of such a plan for the Monterey Ranger District.

To learn more, contact Gordon Johnson at gjohnson@ventanawild.org.

Adventure Pass "Fee Demonstration" Program

The Ventana Wilderness Alliance has formally gone on record opposing the Forest Service's "Adventure Pass" program, which requires the public to pay for the right to visit and recreate on public land.

To learn more, contact Joy Greenberg at greenshadow@fix.net.

Completed Advocacy Projects

Wilderness Expansion Project

Since the inception of the VWA in 1998, achieving permanent protection under the Wilderness Act for local wildlands has been one of our main points of focus.

STEWARDSHIP

Willow Creek Restoration Project

The VWA has undertaken a stewardship project to restore the wilderness qualities of the Willow Creek watershed on the southern Big Sur coast.

Heritage Resource Site Stewardship Program

This US Forest Service sponsored program is an all-volunteer effort to prevent the destruction and degradation of pre-historic and historic archeological sites on the Monterey District of the Los Padres National Forest. The VWA is particularly interested in the impacted sites within the Ventana and Silver Peak Wilderness and adjacent areas.

The "Leave No Trace" Philosophy

Following the format of the widely respected "Leave No Trace" outdoor ethics philosophy, the Ventana Wilderness Alliance is currently working on a detailed version tailored specifically to the special circumstances of the Ventana and Silver Peak Wilderness Areas.

Threatened, Endangered and Sensitive Species Inventory

The VWA is working toward compiling a comprehensive inventory of threatened, endangered and sensitive species and thier habitat on the Monterey Ranger District of the Los Padres National Forest.

PUBLIC SERVICE

VWA Trail Crew

The philosophy of the VWA Trail Crew is simple: It's up to us, the users and beneficiaries of the Ventana and Silver Peak backcountry trails, to do our part toward keeping them in passable shape, and there's no reason we can't have good fun doing so.

Black Cone Trail Project

The VWA has taken the lead role in the effort to reclaim the long-impassable yet incredibly scenic Black Cone Trail deep in the heart of the Ventana Wilderness.

NOTE: Black Cone Trail trailwork reports can now be found in the Ventana Trail Crew pages.