San Gabriel Mountains and Watershed Special Resource Study
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Diverse Community Participation

 

  • Bilingual signage - multilingual signage and materials.
  • General concern that forest rangers should have respect for the forest users who don't come from the same cultural backgrounds, i.e. racial tensions.
  • Multi-lingual; include Spanish and Asian.
  • Engage native peoples so that cultural resources are addressed.
  • Ethnic groups/diversity = make getting more information /more unified approach to outreach. NPS can facilitate this.
  • The National Park Service (NPS) publishes the report Five Views: An Ethnic Site Survey for California (originally produced by the California Parks and Recreation Department) based on the public's need to become more aware of cultural diversity and its tangible manifestations on the land. The survey was originally conceived to broaden the spectrum of ethnic community participation in historic preservation activities and to provide better information on ethnic history and associated sites. The information can help planners identify and evaluate ethnic sites, which have generally been underrepresented in historic property surveys. Most sites and surveys commemorate widely known historical events, or architecturally distinguished or famous buildings, but ethnic sites are often important because of people or events that are less familiar to many in the dominant culture. The public needs the opportunity to become more aware of then nation's cultural diversity and its tangible manifestations on the land. This report can serve as a best practice example for what the San Gabriel plan should do. The report is available at: http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/5views/5views.htm.
  • Nationally, there are disparities in access to safe places to play based on race, ethnicity, income, and poverty. While 87% of non-Hispanic respondents reported that "there are safe places for children to play" in their neighborhood, only 68% of Hispanics, 71% of African Americans, and 81% of Asians agreed, according to the Census Bureau survey "A Child's Day." Almost half (48%) of Hispanic children under 18 in central cities were kept inside as much as possible because their neighborhoods were perceived as dangerous. The same was true for more than 39% of black children, 25% of non-Hispanic white children, and 24% of Asian children. Non-Hispanic White children and youth were most likely to participate in after school sports, with Hispanic children and children in poverty least likely. Children involved in sports and extracurricular activities tend to score higher on standardized tests and are less likely to engage in antisocial behavior. Parks and recreation programs should serve the diverse needs of diverse users. Numerous studies document how people attach different values to green space and use green space differently, both in urban and non-urban contexts.
  • San Gabriel Mountain foothill and valley communities are generally deficient in parks and open space.
  • I recommend that a San Gabriel Mountains National Recreation Area ensure that the various communities south of the San Gabriels in the watershed study are to be included in an NRA. This will help address the park inequities that plague our communities and the possible creation of a local urban park network interconnected by trails and bikeways with the San Gabriel Mountains.
  • The West Coyote Hills in Northwest Orange County absolutely needs to be incorporated into the National Recreation Area that the National Park Service intends to create in Southern California. Making the West Coyote Hills a National Recreation Area is a top priority of the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy (RMC). It is a top priority of RMC because the West Coyote Hills is clearly the most valuable and unique inland undeveloped ecosystem remaining in Southern California, and is located right in the heart of heavily urbanized Los Angeles and Orange Counties (where people essentially have only outdoor developed parks containing baseball fields, tennis courts, and so on that they can go to; hardly any outdoor natural open space areas exist anymore in urbanized Southern California).
  • Alternative C seems to be the most valuable and relevant to fulfilling the goals of improving recreational opportunities and protecting significant resources. The upper portion of the watershed within the ANF is heavily used (and abused) for a variety of recreational pursuits. The lower portion represents a unique opportunity to provide recreational and educational services to a nearby demographic who otherwise may not be exposed to, or have a connection with, their natural environment.
  • The Lower San Gabriel Watershed is extremely park poor and has little or no opportunities for youth and adults to learn about our special ecosystems, like Coyote Hills and Cerritos Wetlands, and be able to enjoy recreation that the river could provide.
  • Progressive Christians Uniting hopes to see the San Gabriel Valley communities south of the Angeles National Forest that are in the Study Area included in a SGM NRA. This would facilitate planning for creative programs to connect park poor communities with the recreational resources in the San Gabriel Mountains, and getting more kids outdoors to begin to address our growing southern California obesity and diabetes crisis.
  • Incorporation of the above areas would link urban neighborhoods to natural spaces and the historical richness of the area.
  • I have always been struck by the diversity of the visitors I see up there; a real cross-section of the surrounding cities that I never witness in other of the more natural parks or wilderness areas. It is so important that this area is preserved and managed in such a way that it can be a vital link between the L.A./So Cal sprawl and nature.
  • The NRA should make a major effort to connect surrounding communities to the forest. This effort would include a robust system of trails, parks and public transportation. This system would expand recreational opportunities in park-poor communities outside the forest and improve recreational access to the forest and the San Gabriel River.