To extend conservation to the mountains and foothills just north of the Los Angeles Basin, California Representatives Judy Chu and Sen. Alex Padilla tell President Biden to add 109,167 acres to the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. I have requested to do so. This will help preserve an area of ​​great historical and ecological importance, just an hour’s drive from a population of 18 million.

The move will increase the monument by approximately one-third and extend its boundaries to the back door of the San Fernando Valley area, which includes Sylmar, Santa Clarita, and Pacoima. It will also improve the U.S. Forest Service’s ability to protect natural resources and manage crowds in areas removed from monument designation by then-President Obama in 2014.

“From increasing access to nature for underserved communities to protecting the source of one-third of Los Angeles County’s drinking water supply, the economy, health, and environment of our region will benefit the President. It would be greatly improved by such a designation by “Chu (Democrat Monterey Park)”.

“I hope President Biden recognizes the importance of these lands,” she said.

On June 8, in a letter to Biden, California Democrats asked the president to bypass Congress and issue an executive order under the Antiquities Act of 1906. The act authorizes the president to construct national monuments on federal land to protect “items of historical and scientific interest.” “

They said they were reluctant for the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to approve a series of conservation bills that would not only expand the monument but also create 31,000 acres of new natural areas and add 45.5 miles. Therefore, the president must act unilaterally. National Wild River and Scenic River Systems.

“Sadly, the problem lies with Republicans in the House majority trying to scale back environmental protection,” Padilla said.

“Our request is to strengthen the protection of more areas of the San Gabriel Mountains and provide public access to the mountains, which have served as a glorious backdrop for the downtown Los Angeles skyline in countless advertising campaigns and postcards. It will improve,” he said.

The proposed expansion will not involve new government funding, but proponents hope funding will come from public and private donations and adjustments to the Forest Service’s budget.

A map of the proposed expansion.

(Nature for All Coalition)

“This monument is not a national park, but by most estimates it meets the requirements for that level of attention,” said environmental and community groups that have campaigned for more parks for years. Belén Bernal, Executive Director of Nature for All, a coalition, said: The largest metropolitan area in the United States, he offers one safe outdoor opportunity.

After hiking over Pasadena’s Eaton Canyon in 1877, John Muir described the San Gabriel Mountains as “where Mother Nature is at her most rugged, edgy, and savage.”

The San Gabriel Mountains watershed, which stretches from Santa Clarita to San Bernardino, provides 70% of the vacant land and about 30% of the water in Los Angeles County.

Rugged canyons, wrinkled slopes and waterfalls are home to 22 rare and endangered species of flora and fauna, including the San Gabriel River d’adorea, Nelson’s bighorn sheep, yellow-footed toad, pond tortoise, Santa Ana sucker and tricolor blackbird. I’m here. and the California Condor. The Great Corn Douglas Fir tree grows only in the mountains of Southern California.

The road winds through the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles.

(David McNew/Getty Images)

The proposed 182-square-mile expansion would push the monument’s boundary southwest to include portions of Big Tujunga Creek, Arroyo Seco, the Upper Los Angeles River, and the Upper Santa Clarita River.

The area encompasses the Bear Divide, a slot in the ridge overlooking the city of Santa Clarita. This is the site of thousands of migratory birds traveling from Central America to the Arctic.

But the area is also susceptible to fires, vandalism, drug trafficking, auto robberies, garbage, illegal campfires, and crowds that bring emergency rescues.

If approved, it would be the fourth time Biden has used executive power to build or expand a national monument without congressional approval. He joins a long list of chief executives who see the monument building as a way to reinforce their traditions and attract potential voters in the impending election year.

Presidents dating back to the days of Theodore Roosevelt invoked the Antiquities Act to circumvent Congress to protect areas of historical or scientific interest. Critics argue that this tactic unduly restricts logging, grazing, mining, or other activities, including rock gathering, across large swaths of the West.

Of the total 17 national monuments in California, only two have been enacted by Congress. Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument in 2000 and St. Francis Dam Disaster National Monument in 2019.

Proposals to expand the memorial will protect indigenous, cultural and environmental heritage under the Biden administration’s “A Beautiful America” ​​initiative, which aims to conserve and connect 30 percent of the country’s land and water by 2030. Delivered at the promised time.

But for Sierra Club activist Jon Momsen, this is a testament to his dream of building what he describes as a “protection arch” that stretches from Cajon Pass in the east to Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in the west. be a step.