Congress protects 600,000+ California acres from mining while funding land restoration
S. 3526 — PUBLIC Lands Act · Filed by Alex Padilla (D-CA) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Dec 17, 2025 · Hearing held
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What it does
This bill designates approximately 871,414 acres in northern California as the South Fork Trinity-Mad River Restoration Area for forest restoration and fire management, establishes a California Public Land Remediation Partnership to coordinate cleanup of lands damaged by illegal marijuana cultivation, and creates multiple new wilderness areas (totaling roughly 600,000+ acres across California) while authorizing several recreation trails and visitor centers. Citizens benefit from expanded public lands protection, improved wildfire resilience, ecosystem restoration, and enhanced recreational access; the bill also supports tribal consultation and local hiring in remediation efforts.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is designation of wilderness areas and establishment of a restoration partnership to protect federal lands and remediate environmental damage. While it includes recreation trail studies and visitor centers, these are secondary to the primary conservation purpose.
What the text implies
- Withdrawal of 871,414 acres from mining and geothermal leasing eliminates potential future mineral extraction revenue to federal government and private operators, a permanent opportunity cost not quantified in the bill.
- Remediation partnership's grant authority and ability to accept non-federal funds creates potential for private foundation or corporate influence over land-restoration priorities, though partnership structure includes tribal and local representation.
- Recreation trail designations (Bigfoot, Elk Camp Ridge, Trinity Lake, Condor) depend on feasibility studies and appropriations; if unfunded, they remain aspirational rather than operational.
- Potential wilderness designation (subsection 303) allows ecological restoration activities that may include removal of roads and non-native species, which could restrict certain recreational or commercial uses not explicitly addressed.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill protects approximately 600,000+ acres of public land from mining and mineral extraction, designates wilderness areas that preserve ecosystems and recreation access, and establishes a restoration partnership that addresses environmental damage from illegal activity. Citizens gain stronger environmental protections, expanded recreational opportunities, and improved wildfire resilience in neighboring communities.
Named in the bill
U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of the Interior, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California State Water Resources Control Board, California State Sheriffs' Association, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Federally recognized Indian Tribes, Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Six Rivers National Forest — and 6 more
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Dec 17, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Dec 17, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.”
- Feb 12, 2026 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
4 lobbying clients named this bill on 5 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $226,409 in lobbying spend. A filing names 25 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 72% of bills with at least one filing.
Alex Padilla, the sponsor, reported $176,500 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Trout Unlimited — $120,000 on 1 filing
- Natat (national Assn of Towns and Townships — $50,000 on 1 filing
- Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District — $30,000 on 1 filing
- Backcountry Hunters & Anglers — $26,409 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (50,094 characters) on Sep 27, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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