President Biden To Expand the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument

The Biden administration announced today that President Biden will use his authority under the Antiquities Act to expand the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument near Los Angeles. The expanded monument will include 105,919 acres considered the “gateway” to the Angeles National Forest and the National Monument. The Biden administration also announced the expansion of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in Northern California. 

“What a momentous day for Angelenos,” said Representative Judy Chu (CA-28). “Thanks to the passionate advocacy for many decades of a vibrant, diverse coalition of Indigenous community leaders, community activists, and nature-lovers across Southern California, President Biden’s actions here bring us closer to achieving his goal of conserving 30 percent of U.S. land and water by 2030 and help cement his legacy as a champion of conservation and our environment. As we celebrate this proclamation, let’s recommit to protecting these pristine public lands for the future and working together to give everyone access to their immense benefits.”

Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo joined Chu in thanking Biden.

“Thank you President Biden for hearing and responding to our community’s call for the protection of the San Gabriel Mountains. These beloved lands provide critical open space and access to nature for millions of local residents.”

Christy Zamani, Executive Director of Pasadena’s Day One, said that “adding more public lands to the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument will help ensure that young people will be able to continue experiencing and learning about unique plants in the region, including the drought-tolerant and fire-adapted chaparral shrubland, scrub oaks, wild lilac, western mountain-mahogany, and the California poppy.”

The expansion of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument will help ensure equitable access to nature, conserve a critical drinking water source for Los Angeles County, address the climate and biodiversity crisis, contribute to state and federal goals to conserve 30% of lands and coastal waters by 2030, and honor the landscape’s cultural and historical significance.

“We are thrilled that the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument is expanding,” said Rudy Ortega Jr., L.H.D., President, Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians. “We thank the Biden administration for making this longstanding vision a reality. Expanding the Monument helps protect lands of cultural importance to my people who are part of this nation’s history and who have cared for these lands since time immemorial. It also further protects areas that are critical for our environment and the wildlife and plants that depend on this landscape.”

“We add our voices in celebration of expanding the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument,” said Chief Anthony Morales, Gabrieleno San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians. “The San Gabriel Mountains are historically significant to our tribe, our people, and our culture. Protecting more of this important region helps protect our traditional plants and cultural resources. We join Senator Padilla and Representative Chu in thanking President Biden for using the Antiquities Act to expand the monument.”

Along with the news of the Monument expansion, over $1 million in corporate, philanthropic, and state government support to help ensure equitable access to and sustainable recreation within the Monument was announced today. Leading philanthropies, business, and state government are committing over $1 million in support of the San Gabriel Mountains Community Collaborative to continue to promote equitable access to and sustainable recreation within the monument. Supporters include REI Co-op, Resources Legacy Fund, the Rivian Foundation, Western Conservation Foundation, The Wilderness Society, the Wyss Foundation, and the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy, which is part of the California Natural Resources Agency. 

The California State Water Resources Control Board also plans to fund efforts to reduce discharges of trash and other pollutants along the East Fork of the San Gabriel River, providing a cleaner and healthier watershed to recreate in. And the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy is investing $2.5 million in enhancement and access efforts along the East Fork of the San Gabriel River, part of the National Monument. Construction is anticipated to start on the San Gabriel River Confluence with Cattle Canyon Improvements Project (also known as the “East Fork Project”) in 2024, with improvements including safe and dedicated access trails to the river and recreational amenities like stairs, restrooms, trash bins, picnic tables, and formalized parking.

Momentum also continues to grow around stewardship of these lands, with youth field rangers and outdoor apprentices slated to work in highly visited areas of the Forest and the National Monument. 

Over 18 million people live within a 90-mile radius of these public lands. The San Gabriel Mountains are the backyard for many urban and culturally diverse communities in Los Angeles County that have limited access to green spaces in their neighborhoods. The newly expanded monument now includes popular trails and places of interest such as the Cobb Estate, Eaton Canyon, the historic Sam Merrill Trail, Millard Canyon, and Brown Mountain. 

“Our local community is overjoyed to see this next step in a 20-year effort to permanently protect the San Gabriel Mountains,” said Belén Bernal, Executive Director, Nature for All. “The area included in the expanded San Gabriel Mountains National Monument is the closest section of the National Forest to the San Fernando Valley; this action helps ensure environmental justice for communities who lack access to green and open spaces throughout Los Angeles County. Thank you, President Biden, for taking this action to benefit the health and well-being of millions of Angelenos and to Vice President Harris for championing the protection of these special public lands!”

The expansion is supported by 115 elected officials, the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, the Gabrieleno San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians, Los Angeles County, and the Cities of Alhambra, Baldwin Park, Duarte, Glendale, Huntington Park, Long Beach, Maywood, Montebello, Monterey Park, Pasadena, Pomona, Pico Rivera, San Fernando, Santa Clarita, South El Monte, South Pasadena, and Sun Valley.

President Biden will expand the monument using the Antiquities Act, which grants U.S. Presidents the ability to designate federal public lands, waters, and cultural and historical sites as national monuments with a presidential proclamation.