Rim of the Valley Corridor Preservation Act Passed in House

On March 1st the House passed a bill called The Rim of the Valley Corridor Preservation Act. This would add more than 191,000 acres to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. This area stretches from the Simi Hills and Santa Susanas to the Verdugos and on to the San Gabriel Mountains.

The bill passed the House on a bipartisan basis as part of the Protecting America’s Wilderness and Public Lands Act (H.R. 803). It is now in the hands of the Senate and has been referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. This bill is a large “macro” bill that is paving the way for the United States to achieve its target of conserving 30% of American lands and waters by 2030.

Among its many benefits, expanding Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area would allow the National Park Service (NPS) to make capital improvements (repairing trails, painting facilities, etc), create outdoor recreation opportunities for 17 million residents in the area, preserve critical habitats, help the NPS conduct more local research, allow the creation of new wildlife corridors, help protect cultural sites and help create partnerships to connect more youth with the outdoors.