FEDERATION OF WESTERN OUTDOOR CLUBS

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SUPPORT WILDWOOD CANYON STATE PARK PROPOSAL

Recent news releases trumpet that Southern California's Inland Empire is the fastest growing region in California and one of the fastest in the nation.  A recent headline article in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin notes "urbanization taking over the Inland Valley ...[and] farmland continues to fade."

Fortunately, under Frank Sissons, chair of the Yucaipa Valley Conservancy board, steps were taken as long ago as 2001 to preserve one of the last unspoiled parcels of land in the Inland Empire suitable for a state park.  The current proposal calls for a park of 3,500 acres, to be later augmented by exchanges of land with the San Bernardino National Forest and acquisitions through purchase/donation of adjacent farm and ranch land.

The local forest ranger is supportive of the proposal, especially since the exchanges would give the forest a more manageable boundary.

The proposed new state park would lie northeast of Yucaipa and south of Oak Glen, both areas experiencing considerable development activity.  Yucaipa's city council unanimously adopted a resolution supporting the park proposal.   Fully implemented, the park might well encompass more than 10,000 acres of much needed parkland.

The Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs supports the proposal for a new Wildwood Canyon State Park in the Yucaipa-Oak Glen area, and calls for adoption of resolutions of support similar to Yucaipa's by other communities in the area; Oak Glen, Redlands, Cherry Valley, Calimesa, and Beaumont.  Similar endorsement should be obtained from both San Bernardino and Riverside Counties since the park, when fully developed, would extend from San Bernardino County into Riverside County.

The Federation urges California state park officials, the legislature, and the governor to support the park proposal, together with sources of available funds, to create the park before encroaching development diminishes the available land.

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