President Joe Biden announced the expansion of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument earlier this month, adding approximately 13,696 acres of federally owned public land in Lake and Colusa Counties, California. The expansion encompasses the entire Molok Luyuk region within the monument.
U.S. Representatives John Garamendi (CA-08) and Mike Thompson (CA-04) joined the President at the White House for the announcement. “Conserving California’s natural beauty has been a lifelong passion throughout my career,” said Garamendi. “I am thrilled that President Biden has issued this proclamation to expand the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument and preserve the tribal wisdom, heritage, and cultural traditions that ‘Molok Luyuk’ or Condor Ridge has been home to for over 11,000 years. I thank President Biden and Interior Secretary Haaland for conserving this special place forever.”
Thompson, who worked to designate the Berryessa Snow Mountain region as a national monument in 2015, expressed his satisfaction with the expansion. “Molok Luyuk is culturally significant to numerous tribes and other Native peoples, and this expansion begins a new era of tribal co-stewardship of ancestral public lands. Today’s expansion will ensure the region’s biodiversity, geological formations, and cultural connections are preserved for generations to come,” he said.
In 2013, Thompson sponsored legislation, cosponsored by Reps. Garamendi, Huffman, and Matsui, that called for the initial designation of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. President Obama designated the area surrounding the Lake Berryessa reservoir as a national monument in July 2015.
President Biden’s proclamation not only expands the monument by nearly 4,000 acres but also renames the former Walker Ridge tract to Molok Luyuk, which means “Condor Ridge” in the Patwin language of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and other Native American tribes indigenous to the area.
The expansion follows years of advocacy from Reps. Garamendi and Thompson, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, federal, tribal, and local officials representing Northern California, and nongovernmental organizations, including environmental conservation, public access, outdoor recreation, and off-highway vehicle groups. In 2022, Garamendi and Thompson introduced legislation to expand the monument, supported by Tuleyome, a conservation advocacy organization based in Woodland, California.
The President’s proclamation directs the federal Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service to improve tribal engagement and co-management of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, focusing on historic preservation, archaeological sites, and forest health.
Did he announce that? How many takes did it take? Did he stumble reading the teleprompter? Seems like a word too big for him to pronounce. I’ve heard him have a hard time with a lot less, except when he’s talking about children rubbing his hairy legs. He had no problem with that
Biden’s handlers and overlords did this. He has trouble thinking, walking, speaking coherently, and can’t do a competitive public appearance without a pharmaceutical cocktail.
Good job Biden! We all know the t-Rump would’ve sold it to loggers…#fucktrump
How much is this going to cost taxpayers? Feds cannot even manage the land they have.
Printing money and more inflation = Bidenomics