Proposed Bill To Add 109,000 Acres To San Gabriel Mountains National Monument

PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 23: In an aerial view, Mount Markham, Eaton Canyon and San Gabriel Peak (R), in the San Gabriel Mountains within the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and Angeles National Forest, are seen on June 23, 2023, above Pasadena, California. Today, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, and other officials will held a news conference to announce a strategy to protect the San Gabriel Mountains and expand the existing San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. As One of three bills within the Protecting Unique and Beautiful Landscapes by Investing in California (PUBLIC), proposed by Padilla, the San Gabriel Mountains Foothills and Rivers Protection Act would increase the size of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument by more than 109,000 acres to include part of the western Angeles National Forest, and would create a National Recreation Area along the San Gabriel Valley foothills and the Rio Hondo and San Gabriel River Corridors. The project would increase public lands access for millions of people in Los Angeles County which, according to Padilla, includes one of the nation's most park-poor and densely populated regions. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)