By designating “Wild Lands” through land-use planning, this order represents a deliberate end-run around the authority of Congress to designate lands as wilderness.  While I have long opposed wilderness designations under any circumstances due to their extreme restrictions on beneficial and economic use of our federal lands, as well as the management restrictions that inhibit local efforts to address the growing threat of wildfires, I also believe that those decisions are best made through open debate and a vote by the Congress instead of through a backdoor process that is solely at the discretion of a federal agency.  Moreover, as the Obama Administration continues to claim that it has no plans to designate national monuments in response to a leaked memo describing potential monument sites (including two within our Northern California Congressional District), this latest action further undermines their credibility.  Instead, these statements simply reinforce the Administration’s “lock it up” agenda with respect to multiple-use of federal lands.  As the 112^th Congress convenes with an emboldened conservative majority, I will pursue whatever means possible to prevent this Secretarial Order or any other policy from further restricting recreation, forest management, mining, grazing, and other valuable uses of our public lands in Northern California.