Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument is a national monument of the United States comprising of the California Coast Ranges in Napa, Yolo, Solano, Lake, Colusa, Glenn and Mendocino counties in northern California.Secretaries Vilsack and Jewell Laud President Obama's Designation of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument (press release), United States Department of the Interior (July 10, 2015). Cache Creek Wilderness is located within the monument.
Creation The national monument was created by a proclamation issued on July 10, 2015, by President Barack Obama under the Antiquities Act. Obama also signed proclamations creating two other national monuments (the Basin and Range National Monument in Nevada and the Waco Mammoth National Monument in central Texas) the same day. The monument, originally 330,780 acres, is jointly managed by the Mendocino National Forest of the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
The proclamation of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument came after a campaign for the area's designation, supported by a coalition of counties and cities in the region (many of which passed resolutions of support), the California State Legislature, the Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians, state and local political leaders, local newspaper editorial boards, conservationist and environmental organizations, recreation groups, local business owners and landowners.Supporters and About Us: Coalition Parties, BerryessaSnowMountain.org (retrieved July 13, 2015).
On May 2, 2024, President Joe Biden expanded the monument by 13,696 acres to include an 11-mile ridgeline called Molok Luyuk.
Description The monument extends approximately from Mendocino County to mountains on either side of Lake Berryessa in Yolo and Napa counties. The monument includes the Snow Mountain, Cache Creek and the Cedar Roughs Wilderness areas. The monument, along with the lake, take their name from the Berryessa family of California, a historically prominent Californio family of the Bay Area.
Lake Berryessa itself was not included within the monument's boundaries due to critics' concerns over the possibility that the use of motorized boats, watercraft and jet skis could be restricted at some point in the future.
Ecology Wildlife in the region includes bald eagles, golden eagles, black bears, mountain lions, tule elk, black-tailed deer, northern spotted owl, marten, fisher, California Coastal chinook salmon, and Northern California steelhead.Peter Fimrite, President Obama to protect huge Berryessa wildland, San Francisco Chronicle (July 10, 2015). The area is also home to some of the world's rare plants, described as "particularly delicate serpentine plants clinging to otherwise barren and rocky mountainsides."Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, U.S. Forest Service . accessed July 14, 2015. The high-elevation Snow Mountain area is one of the most biologically diverse regions in California.
Native American history The area has cultural and historical, as well as ecological, significance. The region has been inhabited by linguistically diverse Native American tribes for 11,000 years — including the Yuki, Nomlaki, Patwin, Pomo, Huchnom, Wappo, Lake Miwok and Wintun indigenous peoples.
See also Blue Ridge Berryessa Natural Area List of national monuments of the United States
References
External links U.S. Forest Service: official Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument website BLM: official Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument website Map of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Tuleyome: non-profit conservation organization for Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument