Raise your voice for national monuments by July 10

The 346,000-acre San Gabriel Mountains National Monument was established by President Obama in October 2014. This action was taken at the request of the Sierra Club and many other local groups who had been working for over a decade to develop an alternative designation for the San Gabriel Mountains that would help bring in new resources to improve recreational and environmental conditions.

 

The San Gabriel Mountain National Monument is now under threat from the Trump administration as it "reviews" 27 national monuments for possible reduction in scope or elimination. The public comment period ends July 10, and we need your help building a strong public record in support of our monument. It only takes a few minutes. Go to the Review of Certain National Monuments Established Since 1996 and tell the Trump administration why you value our monument and the San Gabriel Mountains—and to leave our monument alone.

 

The monument north of L.A. has already begun to show its value, generating new summer ranger positions and over $5,000,000 in private donations, reopening shuttered visitor centers, increasing trash pickup, and launching the East Fork Project. This project, now in the planning stages, will improve visitor services and education, encourage transit-to-trails, increase cultural awareness, and protect aquatic habitat along a 2.5 mile stretch of the often-visited East Fork of the San Gabriel River in the monument north of Azusa.
 

The not so hidden agenda of the Trump administration is to open up our public lands to fracking, coal mining, and downing of ancient trees for timber (think the Sequoia National Monument, which is also under review). Their special focus is Utah, on the Escalante Grand Staircase and the Bears Ears National Monuments that protect millions of acres of magnificent canyon country and plateaus between Utah's Great National Parks like Zion, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Bryce. The administration has already proposed reducing the scope of Bears Ears, established by President Obama in December 2016.

 

You can do your part by commenting right now at the link provided. Although our focus is on the San Gabriels, feel free to comment on any of the monuments mentioned above that you are familiar with. A strong public record will make it harder to the Trump administration to take actions that damage our public lands.