Financials, Investments & Strategies
Santa Rosa/San Jacinto Mountains National Monument
On Oct. 24, 2000, the President signed Public Law 106-351 creating the Santa Rosa/San Jacinto Mountains National Monument. The legislation is the result of a local, grass-roots effort to provide national recognition to this unique public resource. The statute requires the two federal agencies involved, the BLM and the Forest Service to develop a management plan in cooperation with the other agencies and public interests involved within three years of enactment. The plan is built upon the existing strong cooperative efforts of the Santa Rosa Mountains National Scenic Area, which was designated by the Secretary of the Interior in 1990. The goal of these grass-roots' efforts is to protect the area's outstanding biological, cultural, recreational, geological, educational, scientific, and scenic, values, including the recently listed threatened Peninsular Ranges bighorn sheep.
The Santa Rosa National Monument covers 272,000 acres, including 60,000 acres within the San Jacinto District of the San Bernardino National Forest and 86,000 acres within the Bureau of Land Management California Desert Conservation Area. The remaining land within the boundary of the National Monument is managed by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, California Department of Parks and Recreation and the Department of Fish and Game, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, Riverside county, local cities and private landowners.
The monument includes land in three Wilderness Areas: the BLM's 64,000-acre Santa Rosa Mountains Wilderness and the Forest Service's Santa Rosa Wilderness (13,800 acres) and portions of the Forest Service's San Jacinto Wilderness (19,390 acres).
The Agua Caliente Tribe owns substantial acreage within the area and has historic cultural interests throughout the mountains. An agreement between the tribe and BLM was signed October 13, 1999 and included plans for land exchanges, cultural inventories and other cooperative efforts in conjunction with other interests in the mountains. The Tribe testified in support of the monument legislation and hosted the formal dedication in December 2000. The National Monument Management Plan provides guidance for the continued protection and management of the cultural resources found within the National Monument.
An acquisition partnership made up of the managing partners as well the Wildlife Conservation Board, Riverside County, the Friends of the Desert Mountains, and Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy, the tribes and the cities within the Coachella Valley, all contribute toward acquiring private lands in the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains from willing sellers.
The Monument Advisory Committee (MAC),a group of citizens representing a variety of private and governmental interest groups, was established in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Members to the committee were appointed by the Secretary in October 2001. The BLM and Forest Service are working in collaboration with the MAC to prepare the management plan required by the statute to be completed by October 2003. The draft was released for public comment on March 21, 2003, for a 90-day comment period. A Proposed Management Plan is expected in Fall 2003.
