Congress protects 330,000 acres of California wilderness from mining and development
H.R. 6913 — Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation, and Working Forests Act · Filed by Jared Huffman (D-CA) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Dec 19, 2025 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill designates approximately 330,000 acres of federal land in northwest California as wilderness, adds segments to existing wilderness areas, and designates over 50 river segments as wild and scenic rivers. It also establishes a California Public Land Remediation Partnership to coordinate cleanup of lands damaged by illegal marijuana cultivation, creates several new recreation trails (including the Bigfoot National Recreation Trail), and authorizes visitor centers and overnight accommodations near federal parks and recreation areas.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is designating federal lands as wilderness and wild/scenic rivers, establishing a remediation partnership for environmental cleanup, and developing public recreation infrastructure. These are straightforward conservation and public-land stewardship measures.
What the text implies
- The remediation partnership's broad authority to 'secure voluntary contributions' and enter cooperative agreements may create opportunities for private contractors and nonprofits to profit from cleanup work, though oversight mechanisms are not detailed.
- Designation of wild and scenic rivers may restrict future water development or hydroelectric projects in those segments, affecting regional water management and energy planning.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
Environmental consulting and remediation contractors; Nonprofit conservation organizations; Private hospitality and recreation operators (via visitor center and accommodation partnerships)