Our new Senator can help protect these California public lands and rivers

Credit Mason Cummings/The Wilderness Society.

Congratulations, Secretary Padilla, on your appointment to the Senate!  We look forward to working with you on conserving California’s public lands and rivers. 

Let us introduce you to the beautiful places that local communities and advocates across the state are asking for your help protecting:

Northwest California. Credit Jason Smith.

Public lands and rivers in Northwest California, including in Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, and Trinity counties. This includes protecting about 317,000 acres of public lands as wilderness, designating 379 miles of new wild and scenic rivers, requiring management plans for an additional 101 miles of existing wild and scenic rivers, and establishing a 729,000-acre restoration area which will restore forests, habitat, and fisheries. 

Carrizo Plain National Monument. Credit Bob Wick/BLM.

Special places in the Los Padres National Forest and the Carrizo Plain National Monument, located in the Central Coast region. This includes approximately 288,000 acres of wilderness, two scenic areas encompassing 34,882 acres, and 159 miles of wild and scenic rivers. This would be the first wilderness protection on the Central Coast in twenty years, and is particularly important as many of these areas are currently under threat from extractive industries. It also includes the designation of a 400 mile-long trail, the Condor National Recreation Trail, which will connect the northern and southern portion of the Los Padres National Forest by a single hiking route.

San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. Credit Michael Gordon.

In the Los Angeles area, local communities are asking to expand the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument by over 109,000 acres to include the western Angeles National Forest. Communities are also advocating for over 30,000 acres of protected wilderness, over 45 miles of wild and scenic rivers throughout the San Gabriel range, and the establishment of a National Recreation Area in the San Gabriel Valley.

Los Angeles River. Credit (C) tomgamache.com Tom Gamache Photography.

Also in the Los Angeles area, adding more than 191,000 acres of the Rim of the Valley Corridor to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The Rim of the Valley stretches from the Simi Hills and Santa Susanas to the Verdugos and on to the San Gabriel Mountains.

Across the state veterans, elected officials, young people, nonprofit leaders, business owners, conservation organizations, and more supporters have raised their voices in support of legislation to protect these spectacular places.

We look forward to working with you to safeguard them for future generations. Thank you!