S. 1959

Central Coast Heritage Protection Act

This bill designates specified lands in the Bakersfield Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and in the Lost Padres National Forest in California as wilderness areas and as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System.

It also designates certain land in Los Padres National Forest as the Machesna Mountain Potential Wilderness Area, which shall be incorporated into the Machesna Mountain Wilderness Area.

Specified segments of the Indian, Mono, Matilija, Sespe, and Piru Creeks and Sisquoc River in California are designated as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

Certain land in the Los Padres National Forest in California is designated as the Fox Mountain Potential Wilderness Area, which shall be incorporated into the San Rafael Wilderness.

This bill designates specified land: (1) in Los Padres National Forest as the Condor Ridge Scenic Area; and (2) in Los Padres National Forest and in the BLM Bakersfield Field Office as the Black Mountain Scenic Area.

The Department of Agriculture shall: (1) study connecting the northern and southern parts of the Los Padres National Forest using a trail corridor across parts of the Northern and Southern Santa Lucia Mountains of the Southern California Coastal Range; (2) designate the Condor National Recreation Trail, extending from Lake Piru to the Botchers Gap Campground in the Monterey County corridor in California; and (3) conduct a study to improve nonmotorized recreation trail opportunities (including mountain bicycling) on land not designated as wilderness within the Santa Barbara, Ojai, and Mt. Pinos ranger districts.

The Forest Service shall study the feasibility of opening a new trail, for vehicles measuring 50 inches or less, connecting Forest Service Highway 95 to the existing off-highway vehicle trail system in the Ballinger Canyon off-highway vehicle area.

Indian tribes shall be assured access to the wilderness areas, scenic areas, and potential wilderness areas designated by this bill for traditional cultural and religious purposes.