U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORBUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
California

News Release

For immediate release: October 7, 2002

Media Contact:  Becky Kurtz  (760) 341-6603

SRSJMNM-01-03

 

 

Open House Slated to Celebrate 2nd Anniversary, Creation

Of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument

 

 

PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA ? An open house is planned for Saturday, October 26, from 9 a.m. to noon to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of the creation of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument. It will be held at the monument?s visitor center on Highway 74 in Palm Desert. The event is free and open to the public.

 

Activities for the 2nd annual event include:

·        Plein air-painting demonstration presented by the La Quinta Arts Foundation. These paintings, created on location in the open air, include landscapes as well as slice-of-life vignettes of people in their outdoor activities. Visitors will be asked to vote for their favorite painting, which will be used as the poster for the 2003 celebration.

·        Special hikes and botanical information.

 

The event is a celebration of the 2nd anniversary of the creation of the monument. U.S. Congresswoman Mary Bono introduced the monument legislation into the House of Representatives, and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced a companion bill into the Senate. Through bipartisan efforts, the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument was created when President Bill Clinton signed the act into law on October 24, 2000.

 

The legislation designating the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument found: "The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains in southern California contain nationally significant biological, cultural, recreational, geological, educational and scientific values.  The magnificent vistas, wildlife, land forms, and natural and cultural resources of these mountains occupy a unique and challenging position given their proximity to highly urbanized areas of the Coachella Valley." 

 

The national monument includes more than 272,000 acres in the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains.  The area provides habitat for a number of federally listed threatened and endangered species, including the Peninsular Ranges bighorn sheep, as well as magnificent fan palm oases, and more than 500 species of plants.

 

This is the first national monument designated by the U.S. Congress to be managed jointly by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. Other landowners within the monument boundary include California Department of Fish and Game, Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, California Department of Parks and Recreation, county-city regional lands, private lands, and the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy.   

 

The legislation authorized establishment of a monument advisory committee, a group of citizens appointed to provide advice to the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service with respect to preparation and implementation of the management plan for the national monument. Headed by Chairman Ed Kibbey of the Building Industry Association, monument advisory committee members include: Frank Bogert, former mayor, City of Palm Springs; Robert Brockman, planning director, City of Rancho Mirage; Buford Crites, council member and former mayor, City of Palm Desert; Bary Freet, fire chief, City of Palm Springs; Barbara Gonzales-Lyons, vice chair, Tribal Council, Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians; Larry Grafton, senior planner, City of Indian Wells; Bill Havert, director, Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy; Terry Henderson, council member, City of La Quinta; Bob Lyman, regional office manager, County of Riverside; Jeffery Morgan, Sierra Club, Local Conservation Organization; Allan Muth, expertise in natural science and research, University of California, Riverside, Deep Canyon Research Center; Rob Parkins, general manager, Winter Park Authority; Ruth Watling, chair, Pinyon Community Council; and William Watts, district superintendent, California Department of Parks and Recreation.

 

- BLM -

 

Santa Rosa & San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Visitor Center

51500 Hwy 74, Palm Desert, CA 92260

760/862-9984  760/862-9240