Roberto Morales
“It’s not enough to have this awesome natural wonder within your sight. You have to be able to access it.” These words from President Obama on his designation of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument highlight one of the problems facing park-poor Los Angeles County.
It’s a problem that the Sierra Club and allies in the San Gabriel Mountains Forever coalition are working to remedy. Together, the groups have been pushing for transit to parks.
“With more public transit to parks and open green space, we know we can improve the lives of those in our communities, especially those who could benefit the most,” said Roberto Morales, a Sierra Club organizer with the San Gabriel Mountains Forever campaign.
Low income communities and communities of color in Los Angeles County disproportionately lack access to green space, and transportation remains a significant barrier for many families to reach existing natural resources.
A new pilot program however could hold one of the answers to connecting people with the nature nearby. With the recent opening of Metro’s Gold Extension, the City of Duarte has developed a free shuttle program to carry passengers from the new Gold Line metro station to the Fish Canyon Falls trailhead in the San Gabriel Mountains on Saturdays. It’s a project long in the making, stemming from extensive community input by the Sierra Club and others.
To celebrate the start of the program, the Sierra Club and the San Gabriel Mountains Forever Coalition hosted an outing for local residents. The group began the morning by boarding the Gold Line at Union Station. Upon arriving at the Duarte shuttle stop, they met with Duarte city officials and presented them an award for their work to lead by example with the shuttle program. An announcement at the ceremony also provided the good news that Duarte will be extending the pilot program!
Following the ceremony, the group boarded the shuttle for the trail and enjoyed a beautiful day in the great outdoors. The 4.8 mile out-and-back hike wound through an active rock quarry to Fish Canyon Creek, and ended at a three-tiered waterfall. For many hikers, this was their first trip into the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, which was designated in 2014.
The pilot project and the broader work to connect people with nature is about more than conservation. In the words of President Obama, “This is an issue of social justice.” To learn more about the ongoing work of the San Gabriel Mountains Forever Coalition visit: www.sangabrielmountains.org.