| San Gabriel Mountains National Monument | |
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| Location | Los Angeles County,California,United States |
| Coordinates | 34°15′0″N117°50′20″W / 34.25000°N 117.83889°W /34.25000; -117.83889 |
| Area | 452,096 acres (182,957 ha) |
| Established | October 10, 2014 (2014-10-10) |
| Governing body | U.S. Forest Service |
| Website | San Gabriel Mountains National Monument |
TheSan Gabriel Mountains National Monument is aUnited States national monument managed by theU.S. Forest Service, which encompasses parts of theAngeles National Forest and theSan Bernardino National Forest in California. On October 10, 2014, PresidentBarack Obama used his authority under theAntiquities Act to create the new monument, protecting 346,177 acres of public lands in theSan Gabriel Mountains of theTransverse Ranges.[1] The effort to protect the San Gabriel Mountains began more than a century earlier, in 1891 with another U.S. President,Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president, using a congressional act, to designate and delineate the first federal protection in the United States of forested lands, using the same mountain range name, as theSan Gabriel Timberland Reserve. Two earlier California conservationists,Abbot Kinney andJohn Muir, influenced PresidentBenjamin Harrison.
The headquarters of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument is located inGlendora.[2]
The monument covers the central and northern regions of the San Gabriel Mountains, extending west to east from Upper Sand Canyon at Little Tujunga Canyon Road toTelegraph Peak. It contains theSheep Mountain Wilderness, theSan Gabriel Wilderness, and Pleasant View Ridge Wilderness. Most of the major peaks of the San Gabriels are within the limits of the monument, includingMount San Antonio,Mount Baden-Powell, andThroop Peak. TheSilver Moccasin Trail lies within the monument. The monument only covers a limited portion of the range's western extent, and much of the southern portion of the range has been excluded from the monument. It does not contain theCucamonga Peak region.[3]
The movement to further preserve theSan Gabriel Mountains began in 2003 when then CongresswomanHilda Solis initiated an environmental feasibility report to see if it was possible to increase protection by National Monument designation.[4]
The National Monument was established on October 10, 2014, byproclamation of PresidentBarack Obama under theAntiquities Act. More than 15 million people live within 90 minutes of the San Gabriel Mountains, which provides 70 percent of theopen space for Angeleños and 30 percent of theirdrinking water. Polling indicated that 80 percent of Los Angeles County voters supported the proposed protection of the San Gabriel Mountains and rivers.[5]
The creation of the monument was in response to decades of input and support from the local community demanding greaterenvironmental protections for the heavily touristed region. There have been longstanding concerns about pollution and vandalism in the region's subalpine forests and watersheds.Public health andLatino groups also advocated for protecting the public lands in the San Gabriel Mountains as an opportunity to protect access to open space and outdoor recreation as a way to counter the shortage of parks and open space inLos Angeles County which they claim has contributed to high childhood obesity rates.[6]
The Obama administration cited the presence of endangered species, important cultural resources, and the threat of unreliable funding for management and encroaching development as the proximal reasons for the establishment of the monument. In addition, all existing rights-of-way continue to be honored and existing recreational activities—such as hiking, camping, fishing and cycling—will be unaffected.[7]
Local officials, including Los Angeles MayorEric Garcetti, cheered the news along with Hispanic, recreation, and conservation groups.[8] Its establishment faced limited opposition from local residents. To alleviate concerns, the extent of the monument does not cover most of the southern slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains, and excludes towns in the region.[7]
In May 2023, RepresentativeJudy Chu and SenatorAlex Padilla introduced a package of bills that would expand the monument by over 100,000 acres and additionally designate 31,000 acres as protected wilderness.[9][10] In June 2023, Chu and Padilla sent a letter to PresidentJoe Biden asking him to expand the monument by proclamation under the Antiquities Act.[11] In May 2024, President Biden issued a proclamation expanding the monument by 105,919 acres.[12][13]
