CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A community forum on Thursday will discuss preserving the region including Berryessa and Snow Mountain.

The meeting will take place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, at the Highlands Senior Center, 3245 Bowers Ave. in Clearlake.

The environmental action group Tuleyome will host the forum on the proposed Berryessa Snow Mountain National Conservation Area.

Congressman Mike Thompson will attend as a special guest, and will be part of a diverse local panel discussing the area.

Thompson and the panel members want to hear from the community about why the region is special, why designation as a National Conservation Area is appropriate, and why it will bring economic as well as ecological benefits to Lake County and the rest of the region.

There will be a short panel presentation and discussion, along with a question and answer period.

The proposed Berryessa Snow Mountain National Conservation Area encompasses over 321,000 acres of federal public land, Tuleyome reported.

The federal land within the proposed National Conservation Area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the National Forest Service, and the Bureau of Reclamation.

The Berryessa Snow Mountain Region stretches more than 100 miles, and encompasses four counties – Yolo, Napa, Lake, and Mendocino counties.

The region begins at Lake Berryessa in the south and extends through the Snow Mountain Wilderness in the north.

There are three existing wilderness areas within the proposed National Conservation Area: Snow Mountain, Cache Creek, and Cedar Roughs.

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