With the picturesque San Gabriel Mountains in the backdrop, local and national leaders converged on Eaton Canyon Nature Center in Pasadena on Monday, June 26, to urge President Joe Biden to expand the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument an additional 109,000 acres to the west.
“The San Gabriel Mountains are among the most pristine and beautiful public lands in the country, and they are right here next to one of the nation’s densest and most park-deprived population centers,” said Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, who was joined by several elected leaders at all levels. “I’m so grateful to the diverse, vibrant group of leaders of this more than 20-year movement to protect the San Gabriel Mountains, and I hope that President Biden will recognize the importance of these lands by designating the western Angeles National Forest as part of the National Monument. “
The call for an expanded monument included U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla; Rep. Tony Cardenas, D-Panorama City; L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger; Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo; and Tongva Gabrieleno Chief Anthony Morales.
They called on the Biden administration to make use of the Antiquities Act, a 1906 law that allows the president to designate federal public lands, waters, and cultural and historical sites as national monuments via Presidential Proclamation.
The move would add-in regions of the western Angeles National Forest – from the Placerita Canyon Nature Center in the northwest, southwest to the Monrovia area — that were not included in the original 346,177 acres of federal land designated as a national monument by then-President Barack Obama in 2014.
The proposed expansion area is considered the “gateway” to the Angeles National Forest, making it one of the most visited parts of the forest.
“For Angelenos, the San Gabriel Mountains have been a lifelong connection to nature,” Padilla said. “For many low-income families in the Los Angeles area, this is the only access they have…
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