On Feb. 16, the National Park Service (NPS) announced the completion of the Rim of the Valley Corridor Special Resource Study, which recommends adding 170,000 acres to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA). Congress then would have the power to legislate the expansion.
According to the NPS, this addition “would add portions of the Los Angeles River and Arroyo Seco corridors, the Verdugo Mountains-San Rafael Hills, the San Gabriel Mountains foothills, the Simi Hills, the Santa Susana Mountains and the Conejo Mountain area to the national recreation area.”
This new space would include many different habitat types, diverse wildlife, scenic landscapes, historic sites, geological resources, a vast amount of open space and many trails, according to the study.
If this expansion of the SMMNRA goes through, it will allow more recreational space to serve over 18 million residents.
“The study area covers approximately 650,000 acres in the southern California region. It includes SMMNRA (approximately 153,000 acres) and approximately 180,000 acres of lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service (the Angeles National Forest and the recently established San Gabriel Mountains National Monument),” the study stated.