Thompson, Garamendi to Join President Biden to Announce Expansion of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument

Washington - Today, Reps. Mike Thompson (CA-04) and John Garamendi (CA-08) will join President Biden at the White House to announce the expansion of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. The expansion will include approximately 13,696 additional acres of federally owned public land in Lake and Colusa Counties in California, encompassing the entirety of the Molok Luyuk region within the monument.

"I worked to designate the Berryessa Snow Mountain region as a national monument in 2015, and I've worked to expand it ever since. I'm honored to join President Biden today to see these efforts through," said Thompson. "Molok Luyuk is culturally significant to numerous tribes and other Native peoples and this expansion begins a new era of tribal co-stewardship of ancestral public lands. Today's expansion will ensure the region's biodiversity, geological formations, and cultural connections are preserved for generations to come."

"Conserving California's natural beauty has been a lifelong passion throughout my tenure in the state legislature, as Deputy Secretary of the Interior to President Clinton, and now as a member of Congress. In 2022, I introduced the 'Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Expansion Act' with Senator Alex Padilla and Congressman Mike Thompson. I am thrilled that President Biden has issued this presidential proclamation to expand the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument and preserve the tribal wisdom, heritage, and cultural traditions that 'Molok Luyuk' or Condor Ridge has been home to for over 11,000 years. I thank President Biden and Interior Secretary Haaland for conserving this special place forever," said Garamendi.

Rep. Thompson sponsored the legislation, cosponsored by Reps. Garamendi, Huffman and Matsui, that called for the initial designation of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in 2013. In July 2015, President Obama issued a presidential proclamation designating federal land surrounding the Lake Berryessa reservoir as a new national monument. The Monument's designation has since played a crucial role in protecting the biodiversity of Northern California.

Today, President Biden will build on that legacy by issuing a proclamation to expand the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument by nearly 14,000 acres and renaming the former Walker Ridge tract to Molok Luyuk, which translates to "Condor Ridge" in the Patwin language of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and other Native American tribes indigenous to the area.

This expansion follows yearslong advocacy from Reps. Thompson and Garamendi; U.S. Senator Alex Padilla; federal, tribal, and local officials representing Northern California; and nongovernmental organizations, including environmental conservation, public access, outdoor recreation, and off-highway vehicle groups. In 2022, Reps. Garamendi and Thompson first introduced legislation to expand the National Monument and reintroduced the legislation this March.

Consistent with the Representatives' legislation, President Biden's proclamation will direct the federal Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service to improve tribal engagement and co-management of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, including for historic preservation, archaeological sites, and forest health.