Environmental: Federal

The highlight of the Governmental Series is those files related to the activities of the Bureau of Land Management, an arm of the federal government's Department of the Interior (FW Boxes 64-70). They include documents regarding mining regulations (43 CFR 3809) as well as administrative materials, proposed legislation, BLM programs and issues related to the preservation of the California desert such as designated wilderness areas (WSAs), the FLPMA (Federal Land Policy Management Act of 1976) and a California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA).BLM folders are arranged alphabetically by topic and in some areas, chronologically as well. Following the BLM, there are folders featuring the Government Accounting Office (GAO) with a report on hard rock mining damage.

The next section of folders, the Legislative branch, contains correspondence with various Federal legislators including Anthony Beilenson, Alan Cranston and Dianne Feinstein to Bruce Vento, Timothy Wirth and Pete Wilson. The highlight of the legislative materials, of course, is the evolution of the California Desert Protection Act (FW Boxes 72-83). This section is divided into Early Efforts, Activism and Chronology of Bills. Early Efforts includes pivotal documents and early legislative efforts to protect the California desert. Activism contains Wheat's categories alphabetized by format or subject: Analysis, Arguments (pro & con), Background – "basic data," Contacts, Congressional districts, Hearings, Interim Management Policy (IMP), Lobbying (trips), Miscellaneous and Polls.

The next six boxes (83 to 88) contain files dealing with environmental legislation arranged alphabetically by the following topics: Endangered Species, Forest, Grazing, Mining (for example, SMARA -- the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975), Wilderness Acts and Wilderness Studies Areas (WSAs).