Such thoughts were on my mind anyway when reader Charles Rosemeyer contacted me recently to ask for help in obtaining a federal Wild and Scenic designation for the East Fork. Charles is a member of the Sacramento-based conservation organization Friends Of The River, and he informed me that Senator Barbara Boxer plans to submit a bill this year which would call for Wild and Scenic protection for some of California's flowing waters. The East Carson is being considered for inclusion in this protection, but public support is needed to show the Senator that her constituents want Wild and Scenic status for the river.

In my work for this website I've written about many bodies of water, but articles on the East Carson consistently draw some of the most heartfelt reader response. A good number of emails I've received, like my stories themselves, are essentially love letters to the river, written by macho back-country fly fishermen who haven't even brought the wife flowers in years. Computer literate macho back-country guys, come to think of it, and so perhaps it's possible to bring together the people I've met over the years on the riverbank and online, in support of our common passion.

Charles asked me to write a letter to Senator Boxer, expressing my support for Wild and Scenic protection of the East Carson, and to write an article asking my readers to do the same. Never one to jump on a governmental bandwagon without questioning the hell out of everything, I had him send me detailed information on the subject- I wanted to know about possible negative repercussions from this designation, such as restriction of public access for activities like, say, fishing. I wanted to be confident that I was doing the right thing in asking for reader support on this issue.

One of the first things I learned was how special Wild and Scenic protection really is- "Of the approximately 194,000 miles of rivers, streams and creeks in the Golden State, less than two percent are protected by federal wild and scenic designation. About 4,000 additional river miles qualify for protection. These remaining segments are all that remain of the state's once vast heritage of unspoiled, clean and free-flowing rivers." - California's Wild and Scenic Rivers, published by the California Wild Heritage Campaign.

Next I discovered that Wild and Scenic status would protect the East Fork from dams and diversions, logging and further road building, and provide a 1/4 mile buffer zone from development on both sides of the river. Hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, swimming, backpacking, horseback riding, rafting, skiing, and most other non-motorized forms of recreation would be allowed, and private property rights and existing water rights would not be infringed upon. A natural skeptic, I really looked hard for the fine print, in which I would find that I was in fact working to get myself and my fellow anglers kicked off the river, but am now confident this is not the case. Coming from New England, I grew up watching my favorite fishing holes in New Hampshire and Massachusetts sprout locked gates and No Trespassing signs, and saw runoff from development strangle a secret childhood trout creek, snuffing out a rare population of wild brookies. Montana is currently in the throes of fierce battles over public access to its famous rivers, with developers buying up riverside ranches to subdivide and build vacation homes for the rich. Nevada has already gone the golf-course and subdivision route on both the East and West Carson, so now it's up to California to keep the same thing from happening on our sections of these rivers. I'm not normally enthusiastic about federal intervention in local issues, but in this state, water has always flowed toward money, and if those of us who spend ours visiting and fishing in the area don't speak up, the East Fork will continue to flow to agribusiness and development dollars, until there's nothing left for the wild trout. The Tahoe Daily Tribune ran a story on January 16 in which it was announced that Senator Boxer will include the West Carson River in the wild and scenic bill, but no mention was made of the larger East Fork. Let's change that.

If you've ever enjoyed a day on the water here, please join me in contacting Senator Boxer and urging her to include the East Carson in her bill. Tell her how much you appreciate the rare opportunity to experience the solitude and beauty of one of our last wild rivers. Tell her where you're from, so she sees how far people come to visit the Carson. Tell her how much you like to spend your tourist dollars here, as well. This is what I wrote:

Dear Senator Boxer:
My name is Mark Wiza, and I'm writing to request that you include the East Carson River under Wild and Scenic protection in the bill you are set to submit this year. As an avid angler and writer for an Internet fishing publication (Fishsniffer.com, the online counterpart to the popular Fish Sniffer newspaper, found at newstands throughout the state), I have spent time on many California rivers, and the East Carson is truly unique, with all the qualities ("outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other similar values") set forth as criteria by the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 1968.

I'm sure in the review process of potential Wild and Scenic rivers, you have already received much information on such things as the geology, history, and current recreational uses of the East Carson, but I have some experience with two issues that may not have been included in those descriptions.

First, the roadless Wild Trout section, downstream of Hangman's bridge, underwent a change of fishing regulations several years ago, from a daily limit of two trout to a zero limit, meaning all fish caught must be released. The result has been a dramatic increase in the quality of the fishing, taking a mediocre trout stream to status I consider world-class. Each year since the change, the size and number of fish has increased, and as word has spread, it has become a destination for serious, conservation-minded anglers. I always get an enthusiastic response to articles I write on the East Fork, in the form of reader emails from all over California, and increasingly from other states as well. This fishery has the potential to contribute greatly to a sustainable, environmentally sensitive tourism based economy in Alpine County, and Wild and Scenic status would help ensure that.

Second, whether they catch a fish or not, visitors are drawn to the Carson because it truly epitomizes the phrase 'wild and scenic'. With your legislative schedule and the many other areas to consider for protective status, you may not have had the opportunity to walk along the bank and feel for yourself the pull of this special place, so I'd like to share with you some photos taken on my last two fishing trips there, last November just prior to the season closure. The foliage was in full autumn splendor, and even in the extremely low late-season flows, the big trout were still there, miles and months from any deposits by the hatchery trucks.

I am printing this letter in an article on the Fishsniffer website as well, and will ask readers to send their own emails, to show you the support that exists for protection of the river. Thank you for your consideration of my request, and if your itinerary would allow you to get out your hiking boots and spend some time streamside, I would be honored to guide you along the dirt paths and show you my East Carson.

Sincerely,
Mark Wiza

So there you have it. It's not a generic form letter, which can be copied and mailed en masse with only the name and address changed, but you're welcome to use anything in it that helps you express your own desire to protect the East Carson. I feel that real letters, from people that really care, especially Internet savvy, taxpaying voters, will have far more impact. Even if you've never been to the river, but have been moved at all by my stories or photographs, please drop a short note. Without enough support, you may never get to visit the East Carson I have come to love.

Senator Boxer's email address is senator@boxer.senate.gov. Her snail-mail address is-
The Honorable Barbara Boxer
U.S. Senate
Senate Hart Building 112
Washington D.C. 20510

You may remember the Hart building being mentioned on the news in regard to the ongoing anthrax scare that has gripped the country, though, and I suspect there could be quite a delay in the senator opening any envelopes sent through the U.S. Postal Service at this time. So send an email, and do it soon. I understand that she is currently touring potential wild and scenic waters, gathering information for a final decision on which ones to include in the bill. Let's get the East Carson on the list!

Send a letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein, as well. Even if Boxer introduces the bill with the East Carson included, it still needs the support of California's other senator to get anywhere on the senate floor. Her email address is senator@feinstein.senate.gov. Her snail-mail address is in San Francisco, so in this case, a real letter would probably not be held up in anthrax-quarantine. If you have a fax machine, that might be the best route of all.
Diane Feinstein
United States Senate
One Post Street, Suite 2450
San Francisco, CA 94104
fax- (415) 393-0710

"Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed." - Wallace Stegner

See you on the river!
Mark Wiza
Email Me!