Bill directs Interior Department to study expansionof Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Washington, D.C. – Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) reintroduced the Rim of the Valley Corridor Study Act today. This legislation directs the Secretary of the Interior to study the feasibility of expanding the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to include the mountains and canyons in Southern California that are part of the Rim of the Valley Corridor, as designated by the State of California.
The Interior Department would examine the suitability of more than doubling the size of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area by encompassing this corridor, which contains areas of rare Mediterranean ecosystems and encircles the mountains above the San Fernando, La Crescenta, Santa Clarita, Simi, and Conejo Valleys, as well as the famed Arroyo Seco, home of Pasadena's Rose Bowl.
“It is my hope that the Rim of the Valley Corridor Study Act will embody a dream and vision of a Southern California enhanced not only by what we have built, but also by what we have preserved. Almost thirty years ago, lawmakers had the foresight to establish the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area in anticipation of the unbridled growth in population in our region. That growth goes on, and I hope it will be matched by a similar commitment and vision,” said Rep. Schiff.
Senator Dianne Feinstein today introduced similar legislation in the Senate. Rep. Schiff is working closely with Senator Feinstein to move this legislation through Congress.
In the past, a similar version of this bill was approved by the House Resources Committee and passed by the full Senate, but never made it to the President's desk.
Rep. Schiff was recently appointed to serve on the House Appropriations Committee in the 110th Congress and is a member of its Commerce, Justice, and Science Subcommittee, the State Department and Foreign Operations Subcommittee, and the Select Intelligence Oversight Panel. He also serves on the House Judiciary Committee and its Subcommittee on the Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property. He represents California’s 29th Congressional District, which includes the communities of Alhambra, Altadena, Burbank, East Pasadena, East San Gabriel, Glendale, Monterey Park, Pasadena, San Gabriel, South Pasadena and Temple City.
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