Californians for Western Wilderness (CalUWild) is a California-based environmentalist group based in San Francisco that focuses on water management, land conservation, and public lands advocacy. It is a project of the Resource Renewal Institute, a Mill Valley, California-based environmentalist group.

Californians for Western Wilderness promotes environmentalist activism tasks, including reaching out and meeting with local and state legislators, letter writing campaigns, and seeking publication in newspapers and magazines. It pushes state and federal legislation that aims to preserve natural wilderness areas for preservation and recreation. It backed the Red Rock Wilderness Act (H.R. 5775) in Utah, the Desert National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada, and various pieces of legislation to prohibit the use of “e-bikes,” bicycles with an electric motor to assist the rider pedaling, on public lands. ^{1 2}

The organization works with other wildlife protection, conservation, and environmentalist organizations, including the Friends of Nevada Wilderness and Wilderness Watch. ³

History

The Resource Renewal Institute was founded in 1978 by the environmentalist Huey D. Johnson. He was the California Secretary of Resources for the first governorship of Jerry Brown (D) before founding RRI. ⁴

Californians for Western Wilderness soon after became a project of the Resource Renewal Institute. ⁵ It carries out environmentalist projects in the western United States to prevent economic development that may threaten wildlife, such as building projects and the use of e-bikes in natural areas. ⁶

Action Items

Action items for Californians for Western Wilderness include phone calls to legislators and local newspaper editors; letter writing campaigns to local, state, and federal government officials and representatives; emailing out advocacy materials; letters to the editor as newspapers and magazines,; comments to management and Public Relations agencies about press releases put out by the organization; and advocating for conservation legislation supported by the organization. ⁷

Some recent legislation that the organization has supported include the Red Rock Wilderness Act (H.R. 5775) in Utah, the Desert National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada, and various pieces of legislation that oppose the use of e-bikes on public lands. ^{8 9}

1. “Dozens of Conservation Groups Oppose eBikes on Non-Motorized Trails.” National Parks Traveler, https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2019/08/dozens-conservation-groups-oppose-ebikes-non-motorized-trails
2. “2020 May Action Items: Oppose E-Bikes on Public Lands, Wildlife Action in Utah, and In Nevada” CalUWild, https://www.caluwild.org/archives/5370.
3. “Take Action CalUWild.” CalUWild, www.caluwild.org/take-action. Accessed June 12 2020.
4. “About Huey Johnson.” Resource Renewal Institute RRI, www.rri.org/about-huey-johnson/.
5. “Membership.” CalUWild, www.caluwild.org/membership.
6. “2020 May Action Items: Oppose E-Bikes on Public Lands, Wildlife Action in Utah, and In Nevada” CalUWild, https://www.caluwild.org/archives/5370.
7. “Take Action CalUWild.” CalUWild, www.caluwild.org/take-action. Accessed June 12 2020.
8. “Membership.” CalUWild, www.caluwild.org/membership.
9. Lowenthal, Alan S. “H.R.5775 – 116th Congress (2019-2020): America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act.” Congress.gov, 11 Feb. 2020, www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/5775.