A bill that would add more than 100,000 acres of federal forest land to the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, while also expanding wilderness zones to further protect threatened species, was introduced in U.S. Congress on Thursday, May 25.
The San Gabriel Mountains Protection Act, authored by Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, adds new layers of protection by including 109,167 acres of Angeles National Forest land left out of the 346,177-acre monument nine years ago. It also marks 31,000 acres of forest land as newly protected wilderness areas, while adding about 46 miles of rivers to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
“We want more protected wilderness,” said Chu in an interview Thursday. Her bill “would ensure those areas remain in the same, pristine state as they’ve always been. And it would give us all peace of mind for them to continue to be protected.”
In essence, Chu’s bill picks up a 20-year effort to protect the San Gabriel Mountains, which make up the majority of the 700,176-acre Angeles National Forest, located within a one-hour drive of 15 million Southern California residents.
Preservationists, as well as representatives of foothill cities in Los Angeles County, see the designation of the monument by President Barack Obama in 2014 as the catalyst for recent improvements to creeks, rivers, recreational spots and wilderness areas.
The bill adds southwestern sections of the Angeles to the monument, including areas north of Sylmar and east of the Newhall Pass. It would include the Arroyo Seco, a historic tributary of the Los Angeles River running through Pasadena, as well as the Tujunga Wash and Chantry Flat, a popular hiking and picnic spot north of Arcadia and Sierra Madre, which has attracted thousands of visitors on weekends.
The bill is a possible prelude to an effort by President Joe Biden to bypass Congressional approval and expand the national monument with the stroke of pen, through use of the Antiquities Act. A…
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