Discussion of the San Gabriel region has been going on for decades. As just one example of the many processes that have been ongoing:
As directed by Congress in July 2003 (P.L. 108-042) , the National Park Service (NPS) completed a "special resource study" of portions of the San Gabriel River and its tributaries from the city of Santa Fe Springs to the north, and the San Gabriel Mountains within the territory of the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy. The area includes portions of the Angeles National Forest, as well as many communities along the San Gabriel River. Many people, organizations, and agencies are working to conserve resources in this area to provide recreational opportunities, habitat restoration, watershed improvement, and flood protection. This study builds upon and complements the efforts that are underway.
The NPS completed this task in April 2013 after a decade of soliciting public participation. This kind of study has defined the basis of the implementation that was signed off.
The discussions of the San Gabriel have involved many local and user groups that have spent years pushing towards what has finally been done. These are groups of people that participate in the political process up front, like Doug Sr in the Alabama Hills all these years.
And the process isn't over for people who care to be involved. How things will be affected in the San Gabriel is still to be determined. Now that a direction has been selected, attention can focus on the agency actually selected.
Dale B. Dalrymple
