San Gabriel Mountains National Monument (Photo Credit: Rennet Stowe)
Rod Torrez, Executive Director of HECHO (a grantee of our Environment Program), celebrates President Obama’s recent declaration of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, and Latinos’ role in supporting it:
The San Gabriel Mountains in particular have always been a welcome reprieve from the city for Latinos, especially for hunting and fishing, and have been increasingly valuable as a destination for outdoor education programs, with private organizations and public agencies using the area to connect many Latino urban youth to the outdoors. Moreover, the San Gabriel Mountains watershed provides a significant portion of the region’s clean water supply; protecting the health of the resource is paramount to the health of communities downstream.
There are many good reasons to celebrate the new national monument. But it is important to note that the San Gabriel Mountains, along with the Rio Grande del Norte, and the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monuments represent a new approach by protecting the land we love and respecting how we have enjoyed the land for generations. It’s encouraging to know that we can continue to enjoy these places for generations to come. It’s also satisfying to know that Latinos have played a significant role in protecting them.