Lawmakers and conservation groups are asking President Joe Biden to use his powers under the Antiquities Act to expand the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument near Los Angeles.
Advocates want to expand the western side of the monument, adding 109,000 acres currently part of the Angeles National Forest and range from the area above Altadena north to Pacoima, Sylmar and Santa Clarita.
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said the expansion would have multiple benefits.
"Yes, it's a matter of conservation. Yes, it's a matter of environmental stewardship. Yes, it's a matter of protecting the unique biodiversity that exists here," Padilla outlined. "But it is also a matter of environmental justice."
Some 18 million people, including many from low-income communities of color, live within 90 miles of the national monument. The area is sacred to several local tribes.
Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., has been working for decades to protect the San Gabriel Mountains, recently securing funding for buses to start bringing people from urban areas up to the mountains.
"From increased access to nature for underserved communities to protecting the source of one-third of this county's drinking water, to improving our region's economy, health and environment," Chu emphasized. "This will all receive a boost."
Belén Bernal, executive director of Nature for All, a nonprofit based in Los Angeles, said the move would also protect wildlife corridors and aid in the fight against climate change.
"Permanent protection is also aligned with all the various efforts happening at the federal and state level around '30 by 30,'" Bernal explained. "Protecting 30% of our open spaces and biodiversity by 2030."
The proposed expansion is included in the Public Lands Act and the San Gabriel Mountains Protection Act currently before Congress, but the bills have stalled in the face of Republican opposition.
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An update to the Northwest Forest Plan is expected soon, and Washingtonians who enjoy the outdoors are being urged to follow the process closely.
While the plan doesn't specifically mention recreation, the Northwest Forest Plan is the land management plan for millions of acres of forest in the region.
Michael DeCramer, policy and planning manager with the Washington Trails Association, says the U.S. Forest Service should keep in mind the people hiking trails within the plan area.
"Outdoor recreation is the primary way in which the public interacts with those lands. So, this management plan is key to assuring that there's continued conservation of resources, but also opportunities to recreate and enjoy the forests in the Pacific Northwest," he said.
DeCramer added the outdoor recreation economy is also important to the region. It generates more than $26 billion annually in Washington, according to the Outdoor Industry Association.
The Northwest Forest Plan was adopted in 1994 for management of forests in Washington, Oregon and northern California. The U.S. Forest Service is set to release a draft Environmental Impact Statement for the plan amendment next month.
The Forest Service plans to address is the impact of climate change on the region, among other factors.
Betsy Robblee, conservation and advocacy director for Washington-state based group The Mountaineers, said increasingly frequent wildfires are hurting trails. She contributed recommendations with the federal advisory committee on the plan amendment to address this.
"Restore recreation sites after climate-related events and reopen them to the public. One thing that we're seeing is more lengthy closures of areas after wildfire," she explained. "Places can be closed for a number of years for public access."
Robblee encourages people who enjoy recreation to follow along as the Northwest Forest Plan amendment is released, because there will be an opportunity for the public to comment on it.
"It's easy for folks to think, 'Oh, this is all about logging or wildlife, and it doesn't affect me.' But it definitely affects people's recreation experience and the places that they love and care about," she added.
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From power outages to burnt farmland, North Dakota is coming to grips with the impact of several large wildfires that are linked to at least two deaths. The fires intensified this past weekend around the western half of the state, with crews working in recent days to get them under control. Gov. Doug Burgum said when they get the final numbers, it is possible the fires will have consumed as many as 50,000 acres of farmland.
Daryl Ritchison, North Dakota State Climatologist, said windy and dry conditions fueled the devastation, adding that there's no doubt the agricultural community was hard hit.
"Farmers lost cattle. Farmers lost grazing land. Farmers lost houses. Farmers lost their fencing," he continued.
The North Dakota Farmers Union reminds ranchers who lost cattle, pasture and equipment in the fires that the federal Farm Service Agency has resources to help them recover. Information can be found on the USDA website. Meanwhile, the governor has said this could be one of the worst groups of fires in state history when factoring in acreage.
Ritchison suggested it's too early to link this disaster to climate change, noting the state's history with prairie fires, especially this time of year, and added that if there is a silver lining, early warnings to farmers - to pause their fall harvest - appeared to be effective.
"If there's any good in this, I think it could have potentially been even worse considering the wind gusts up to 60, 70 miles per hour, how dry the conditions were, the low relative humidity," he explained.
Globally, scientists say climate change is one of several factors as to why wildfires are becoming more destructive and difficult to contain. It's prompting more calls for state and local governments to become better prepared and alert the public ahead of time. A recent report found that preparation lapses hindered evacuations during the deadly Maui fires in Hawaii last year.
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New legislation making its way through the U.S. Senate would conserve more than 730,000 acres of federal public lands in and around Colorado's Gunnison Basin.
Tony Prendergast, a cattle rancher near Crawford, was one of a number of stakeholders who worked for a decade to shape the legislation. He said farmers, ranchers, hunters, anglers, hikers, mountain bikers, wildlife advocates and others realized the lands were being "loved to death," and if nothing was done, everyone would lose.
"We came together to say, 'Well, how can we work together to protect what exists, and protect it well in the future and into future generations?'" Prendergast explained.
The Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection Act, led by Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., taps federal wilderness and special management area protections for important fish and wildlife habitat. The bill would also transfer the Pinecrest Ranch into a sovereign land trust for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. Six Colorado counties and 16 advocacy organizations support the measure but some in Congress continue to oppose any increased public lands protections.
The measure would not affect water rights or existing land uses, such as mining or oil and gas leases. But Prendergast pointed out the legislation will give land managers the tools they need to mitigate conflicts after a surge in outdoor recreation.
"New mountain bike trails were appearing all the time," Prendergast noted. "The motorized recreation was spreading out across the landscape. Gates were being left open. There would be conflicts, livestock dogs chasing off mountain bikers."
He added the legislation would also allow land managers to prioritize the needs of wildlife during critical times, such as the end of winter when animals are weak and nutrition levels are at their lowest.
"In an area where wildlife is close to having their young, there may need to be closures from dusk to dawn from human activity, so wildlife can have a break," Prendergast added.
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