Citing a precedent set by Abraham Lincoln in 1864 when he signed legislation preserving Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove, President Obama, standing on a stage on the edge of Puddingstone Lake in San Dimas, with the Majestic San Gabriel Mountains shrouded in haze behind him, bypassed Congress and declared 346,000 acres or about half of the entire range, a National Monument.
With this announcement and his signature Obama ensures a large swath of the San Gabriel Mountains, part of the Los Angeles National Forest, will get more federal attention and resources. Now the National Park Service will co-manage the park with the U.S. Forest Service. The section of the range, that stretches from the Castaics near the Interstate 5 mountain pass known as the "Grapevine," to the San Bernardino County border but not including Mt. Baldy, will be named the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument.
An act of Congress is required to declare an area a national park, but an executive order from the president can declare a national monument. (Some national parks, like the Grand Canyon, were once national monuments.)
Many Greater Los Angeles Residents have complained for years that these mountains have been neglected for too long. Crime, graffiti and trash mar the wilderness in our backyard. Living only a few minutes away from these mountains myself, I can testify to their beauty and grandeur, but I also know that a visit to a canyon, trail or stream can be a free for all of day trippers off-roading with motor cycles and ATVs, parking their cars and trucks on the roadside, carrying ice chests across shallow streams, trampling flora, often leaving trash and graffiti behind. In many places there is little if any signage, no trash cans, designated parking, picnicking sites or restrooms. In the winter when there is snow, add to this literally thousands of families with their sleds picking any available slope to climb up and slide down with no place to park safely or go to the bathroom.
U.S. Rep.
Judy Chu(D-Monterey Park) introduced a motion to Congress to declare the area a National Recreational Area, but it got no traction in the House. So she asked the White House for help, receiving Obama's support and promise that an executive order, under the authority of the Antiquities Act of 1906, would ensure the Mountains would receive better funding.
That angered some local officials and many Republicans, who said it was an end-run around Congress.
Judy Nelson, mayor of the foothill city of Glendora, said naming the area a national monument instead of a national recreation area could invoke different environmental protection rules and might harm businesses.
http://www.srnnews.com/...
In 2003, Gerald W. Williams, Ph.D., of the USDA Forest Service wrote on the history of national monuments and the forest service.
Shortly after the turn of the century, many citizens’ groups and organizations, as well as members of Congress, believed it was necessary that an act of Congress be passed to combat the increasing acts of vandalism and even destruction of important cultural (historic and prehistoric), scenic, physical, animal, and plant areas around the country (Rothman 1989). Dan Zaslowsky noted that by the 1830s, Americans had generally left their most scenic areas in a shambles. Niagra Falls had been recognized as the nation’s greatest natural spectacle, but by the 1839s its cliffs were combed by rogues and unscrupulous operators, who laid claim to the best overlooks and then charged the tourists exorbitantly for the view. Fly-by-night enterprise cluttered the area, turning the place into a cheap circus. The setting had become so tawdry that when Alexis de Tocqueville visited Niagra Falls in 1831, he urged an American friend to “hasten” to see the place before all its grandeur was lost. Delay, Tocqueville warned, would mean that “your Niagra will have been spoiled for you. Already the forest around about [the falls] is being cleared. I don’t give the Americans ten years to establish a saw or flour mill at the base of the cataract” (Zaslowsky and the Wilderness Society 1986: 13).
Efforts over the last part of the 1800s to resolve the vandalism problem went unheeded, as many of the unique places were on federal land that had no management or even a custodian to watch over the sites. Despite the fact that the first national park was established at Yellowstone in 1872, smaller, unique areas continued to languish.
http://www.nps.gov/...
As with anything Obama does there has been plenty of intense criticism. Of course Republicans go into fits of outrage over Obama's audacious exercise of the executive order to get things done in the face of their obstruction and intransigence, and this is the 11th time he has used his executive power to establish a National Monument without Congressional approval. How dare he!
Here is Rand Paul, completely unaware of the irony of his comments, speaking to the New Hampshire chapter of Generation Opportunity, a national grassroots conservative group with a libertarian appeal:
“I think the first executive order that I would issue would be to repeal all previous executive orders,” Paul replied to resounding cheers through the Manchester pub, named for the beer bearing the namesakes of American revolutionary Sam Adams. “Democracy is messy, but you have to build consensus to pass things. But it’s also in some ways good, because a lot of laws take away your freedom. So it should be hard to pass a law. And it, frankly, when you do it the proper way, is. We’ve done way too many things [the wrong way]: Signing statements, altering legislation by the president, are wrong and unconstitutional and shouldn’t happen. Executive orders shouldn’t either.”
Opponents complain that Chu and Obama hurried this along and bypassing Congress did not allow the will of the people (i.e. the Republican controlled house) to be considered.
Chu's bill was being reviewed by a Congressional committee but did not have enough support to pass, and both Chu and Obama surely knew it never would pass, at least not until he was out of office, at which time perhaps a Republican could offer it up for approval, thus depriving Obama the chance to add to his already impressive legacy. In shelving the bill and instead declaring a national monument critics complain:
The National Recreation Area requested by Ms. Chu’s HR4858 is not to be interchangeable with a National Monument because they have differing land use implications and legal consequences which have not been studied.
http://www.thefrontpageonline.com/...
Another complaint heard from local leaders was "concern over the impact to our water supply if the San Gabriel River is included in a National Monument. Many foothill cities receive their drinking water from this river, which could be restricted." The picture bellow is of the San Gabriel River, full of swimmers with no place to go to the bathroom. Gee I wonder what that does to the water supply?
Additionally, recreation access and land usage will be altered if this plan is implemented. New fees and permits are expected and winter sports, off road biking and hiking, atvs, rifle ranges, horseback riding and many other activities could be curtailed. Originally, Rep. Chu stated that an additional 270,000 acres the San Bernardino Mountains were also going to be included, but after strong objections from local leaders she backed down this week and removed San Bernardino and Mt. Baldy from the plan.
(thefrontpageonline.com)
So Chu compromised with some of those who have had their way with the mountains for a century, causing erosion with their ATVs and off road motorcycles, and requiring visitors to buy something to eat at their restaurant if they needed to use a bathroom. I remember last winter when I brought my daughter and her friend up to the snow near Mt. Baldy. There was a solitary porta-potty near the road which my daughter told me was totally gross. I checked it out and found it was completely overflowed with crap and piss. So we walked about a half mile to the Baldy Lodge, and bought hot chocolates and coffee for about $8.00 so they could use the restroom. It is doubtful that most of the several thousand other visitors that weekend were so discrete and environmentally conscious.
While it is unfortunate that, because of Chu's compromise, 270,000 acres will not be included in the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, but it will surely provide stark contrast 50 years from now as to the wisdom of preserving and protecting our natural resources over allowing unmanaged access. This act by Obama will lead to rest stations with restrooms, hiking and biking trails designed for safe and fun recreation while minimizing erosion, picnic and camping areas with trash cans and maintenance, as well as enhanced law enforcement resulting in reduced vandalism and other crimes.
It is ironic that some of the greatest champions of this national strategy to protect or enhance prominent or important features of the national landscape, Lincoln, Benjamin Harrison and Theodore Roosevelt were all Republicans, who knew the root of the word conservative was conserve, not exploit, deplete and destroy. So let the small minded, short sided, selfish and greedy bitch and moan, Obama wins on this one. Once again, Obama wins and another step is taken to preserve the future for our children and their children.