The Brief

Two California lawmakers are asking President Biden to help add more than 100,000 acres to the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument in what they say is an effort to improve access to public lands, protect clean water supplies and preserve the area's unique ecological beauty and importance.

Pasadena-area Congresswoman Judy Chu and California Senator Alex Padilla sent a letter to President Biden earlier this month asking him to issue a presidential proclamation under the Antiquities Act of 1906, which gives a sitting president the power to add land to a national monument in the interest of preserving its scientific or historical significance. Both Chu and Padilla have also introduced bills in Congress aimed at broadening protection of public lands.

“There are incredibly culturally significant places and objects [there],” Rep. Chu said in an interview with host Larry Mantle on LAist's radio news program "AirTalk," which airs on 89.3 FM. “The Gabrielino trail blazed by tribes centuries ago, the giant gears used to hoist a railcar to the top of Echo Mountain, ecologically significant plants like the bigcone fir tree — and the arroyo toad.”

Chu says if President Biden were to issue the proclamation, it would allow the U.S. Forest Service to protect more wilderness areas, preserve 46 miles of river systems and improve recreation access for nearly 15 million Americans.

What would be protected

According to a map of the proposed expansion provided by Senator Padilla's office, the proposed new boundaries would expand the national monument designation area mostly to the west of its current borders, backing it up against neighborhoods like Santa Clarita and Sylmar in the San Fernando Valley. It would also extend its boundaries slightly south, moving them closer to foothill communities like Altadena and Sierra Madre.

In total, the expansion would add 109,167 new acres to the monument.

A 'permanent level' of protection

The monument status makes a dramatic difference, Chu said. In 2014, then-President Barack Obama answered the call to designate about 3/4 of the eligible federal land in the San Gabriel Mountains as a national monument. After that designation, $5 million was allocated to improve the area, according to Chu, and there was better crowd management, parking and signage, as well as faster removal of trash and graffiti. The National Forest Service also designated discretionary funds for the care of the mountains and partnered with the states to make big improvements.

Daniel Rossman, the California deputy director of the Wilderness Society, has been working to designate the San Gabriel National Monument for 14 years. He, too, said the area is rife with rare plants and animals of scientific concern, as well as those cultural artifacts from when tribes were using the area as an important trade route and ceremonial landmark.

“It's not enough to have this place protected, but this is an issue of environmental justice,” Rossman said. “People need to be able to access these lands.”

This bill would include efforts to expand recreational access to the mountains for millions of Southern Californians, Chu said. After the 2014 pronouncement, Chu said she brought $1.75 million to a Transit-to-Trails program that connects people from the Pasadena Gold Line Metro station to five transit stops along the San Gabriel Mountains route, ending at the Mt. Wilson Observatory.

Community effort required

Chu said the proposal has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the community. Though there was a small amount of pushback in 2014, Rossman said, a local collaborative was founded to bring in stakeholders and community members and work together on addressing concerns and creating a management plan. As a result, many who were initially hesitant now feel it is a great privilege to have a nationally significant monument here in our own back yard, Rossman said.

Chu said although the Department of Agriculture is very enthusiastic about the proposal — partially because it helps fulfill President Biden’s pledge to have 30% of American land and waterways protected by 2030 — federal officials want to ensure the proposal has community support.

“We are urging L.A. residents who want this to happen to write to the White House and make sure that they share their stories about why the San Gabriel Mountains are so important to them, why this designation will be of benefit to them,” Chu said. “And with that, I think we are on the road to getting this done.”

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