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Solis aims for federal protection of rivers Los
Angeles Newspaper Group - 7/18/01 Rep. Hilda Solis, D-El Monte, on Tuesday introduced legislation that would study the feasibility of making sections of the Lower Los Angeles and the San Gabriel rivers a part of the National Park System. The $200,000 study would be relatively inexpensive for the size of the region it will cover, Solis said in an interview from Washington, D.C. Solis spent Tuesday trying to rally bipartisan support for the bill that could lead to the turning over of the Lower Los Angeles and San Gabriel rivers and sections of the San Gabriel Mountains to the federal government. "It would create what I hope would be a safety net to continue the preservation of these very pristine rivers that are still alive and thriving," Solis said. The bill to fund the study by the Secretary of the Interior has to make it out of the House Resources Committee, where Solis is a member, before it goes for a vote on the floor. Solis is not sure how long it will take the bill to get out of committee. In 1999, when she was a state senator, Solis and Assemblywoman Sally Havice, D-Artesia, were able to get a bill through the state Legislature that created The San Gabriel & Lower Los Angeles Rivers & Mountains Conservancy. The conservancy would work in partnership with the National Park Service, said a legislative aide in Solis' Washington, D.C., office. If this latest bill passes, Solis' next goal is to introduce legislation that would put the rivers under the control of the National Park Service. The final legislation would create a board of directors that would include both entities. "I think that it could be a good marriage," said Ken Manning, of the Upper San Gabriel River Municipal Water District. The resources the federal government can bring to the region will be good for the maintenance of the trails, parks and open areas along the rivers, Manning said. "The San Gabriel and Los Angeles rivers are one of the few natural settings left in the San Gabriel Valley," he said. "It's a way of getting away from the hustle and bustle of the Valley." The areas of the rivers that the study would look at are ecologically similar with like conservation needs, Manning said. "If we don't do something now to preserve this area, then they are going to be overdeveloped and we are going to lose them," Solis said. Environmentalists in the region want to see the rivers and watershed areas developed into better habitats for the wildlife that already lives there, as well as better public resources. "There are a lot of groups working on independent projects," said Jeff Yann, chairman of the Sierra Club's San Gabriel Valley Conservation Task Force. "There's quite a bit of habitat and recreation areas along the rivers." A confederation of governmental and private groups manages the rivers with no centralized oversight, Yann said. Los Angeles County's master plan for the rivers deals only with the rivers' rather narrow parallel strips of adjacent land. Environmentalists would like to see expanded green belts along the rivers, Yann said. "And that's an area that the National Park Service has a lot of experience in," he said. "We can kind of bring the national parks to the community." Solis' goal of placing the National Park Service in control of the rivers is the best solution for conserving their ecology and public benefits, Yann said. "I think the Park Service brings a lot of expertise to the table," he added. "It certainly enhances the image of the area." Ecologically speaking, "This would be the centerpiece for what's happening in the San Gabriel Valley," Solis said. The San Gabriel River starts in the Azusa foothills and runs to Long Beach, where it empties out into the ocean near the mouth of the Los Angeles River. |
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