The U.S. Forest Service is considering creating a Big Sur National Forest that could include the Hearst Ranch and Ft. Hunter Liggett, if the enormous U.S. Army base is shuttered in the Pentagon's coming round of base closures.
As envisioned, the new national forest could encompass an area yet to be acquired that alone would be nearly half the size of Orange County, plus northern portions of the Los Padres National Forest.
The concept, raised in a briefing paper for U.S. Rep. Sam Farr (D-Carmel), details the Forest Service's interest in protecting vast reaches of the Central Coast at a time when state parks officials are short of cash and the National Park Service has shown no interest in purchasing additional land.
"We do see some good opportunities to conserve undeveloped areas and preserve the area's scenic and natural values," said Jack Blackwell, the top U.S. Forest Service official in California. "Sam Farr asked us to explore the idea. We took that idea of a Big Sur National Forest and said, 'If you want to explore that, this is how it should look.' "
If the Forest Service were to acquire about 80,000 acres of the Hearst Ranch, as is suggested in the paper, and take over the 165,000-acre Ft. Hunter Liggett, it would add about 382 square miles to California's inventory of protected public lands.
The Hearst Ranch, the grassy tablelands and mountains surrounding Hearst Castle at San Simeon, would be "a logical addition to the national forest and would complement the proposed Big Sur National Forest," the paper said. "There is very strong support for public acquisition of the ranch."
The Forest Service, under its policies, buys land only from willing sellers -- and there is no indication that Hearst Corp. wants to sell.
In recent years, the Forest Service has purchased 4,684 acres in San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties on the northern boundary of the Hearst Ranch, said Brent Handley, who directs the management of the agency's natural resources in California.
Adding the Hearst Ranch would improve access for hikers, hunters and others to the forest lands and place the streams and rivers of the last remaining Southern steelhead trout and other protected species under the management of federal wildlife experts, the document said.
The paper also reveals the Forest Service's interest in acquiring Ft. Hunter Liggett, should the Army base be closed by the Pentagon next year as part of its effort to shed some of its vast landholdings.
Farr, whose congressional district includes the base, said Thursday that the Army base remained "in limbo" since the Pentagon had decommissioned most of the buildings but not the surrounding acreage.
"The jury is out on the fate of Ft. Hunter Liggett," Farr said. He said he was intrigued by the Forest Service's idea of adding the land to its holdings, which include the adjacent Ventana Wilderness -- a swath of protected federal forestland that Farr helped create.
"This is all federal property," the congressman said. "This is not a land grab. This is about consolidation and coordination between federal agencies. It's what the locals would like. They would prefer to have it go to the Forest Service, because they can continue to hunt."
The little-used Army base has about a fourth of the state's remnant herd of tule elk, and includes places where endangered condors and bald eagles are staging comebacks. It has some of the healthiest stands of live valley and blue oaks.
"The base also contains numerous Native American archeological and culture sites, and offers outstanding recreational opportunities, including hiking, mountain biking, equestrian use, camping, nature study, fishing and hunting," the Forest Service paper said.
About 40% of the base was national forest before it was transferred to the War Department during World War II. "If it's no longer needed by the military, I don't know why it shouldn't go back to the national forest," said Blackwell, the region's top U.S. forestry official.
The idea of acquiring the Hearst Ranch has surfaced as state officials negotiate with Hearst representatives over a $95-million deal to buy the development rights to most of the 120-square-mile ranch. Under the state plan, Hearst would keep ownership of that land, but abandon its previous plans to build a resort and golf course and instead limit any construction to a small hotel and 27 homes. Blackwell and other Forest Service officials presented the national forest idea to Harriet Burgess, the head of the American Land Conservancy, to see whether Hearst Corp. might be interested in selling the rest of the ranch. The conservancy is helping Hearst broker a deal with state officials.
