Overuse, Crowding, Dispersal

 

• Increased use from NRA designation. What are the impacts?
• Recognize that increased use of the Forest will continue to occur. USFS is overwhelmed by this.
• Concerned about the large urban population. We need to focus on education. Rules, habitat, how to behave in a park.

• Want education centers. Combo of A and C to get federal dollars, interpretive signage, and adequate facilities to mitigate use impacts where people are concentrated.
• Concerned with increased traffic (vehicular).
• San Gabriel River Canyon gets very intensive use. Need intensive effort for facilities/ranger service, better distribution of people within the San Gabriel Mountains.
• Assist with alternative outlets for public uses in multiple locations so not to overwhelm any one area.
• Concerned about increased pollution, waste, and impacts from increased use.
• Disperse uses to other areas - recreation only the front range.

• Concerned that there are a lot of families visiting the San Gabriel River [Canyon?] area, but there are not enough bathrooms and picnic tables.
• Consider use of quotas for heavily-used trails and use areas to keep sites from being "loved to death".

• Certain areas are heavily used, and suffer from visitor impacts (parking, littering, erosion, etc.).
• The San Gabriel Mountains are overused and the region and urban residents need more resources and better education and interpretation programming.

• All alternatives (B & C) need to address this area - Santa Clarita/north slope. The region is growing in population/development; need areas to get away from the development

• The Los Angeles area is densely populated and it's very difficult to find any open, wild areas where one can go to find peace, space to enjoy the outdoors and all they have to offer in this hectic world. I have witnessed the fast and in many areas that should have been protected, over-development which has led to loss of wildlife and their habitat, huge wild fires and a loss of valuable recreational space for southern California's people and visitors. It is not land that can be regained. The Los Angeles area is one largest populated areas in the United States and yet we have fewer parks and recreation areas than almost any other large city. These mountains are one of the very few places that we can go to get away from the traffic, the crowds and the noise we are faced to live with, day in and day out. I go there to be alone, to rest my spirit, to enjoy the beauty of nature and to watch and listen to the wildlife. Our parks and beaches are terribly crowded, take a long time to get too and mean that we have to fight yet more cars and crowds to enjoy a change of pace from our daily life.
• The proximity of this wilderness to such a large urban area also creates challenges. Some areas are heavily overused, and many visitors have little understanding of the value of this natural area due the limited number amount interpretation and educational opportunities for visitors. It also strains the resources of the Forest Service to manage such a large area.
• I have many concerns about the ecological integrity of the study area. It is very heavily used, especially by Hispanics who use it as their primary area of recreation. The flow of traffic is so heavy on hot weekends that the State Highway patrol is forced to close the canyon. The vast majority of campers in the San Gabriel Canyon go for the water. There are no established camp grounds along north and east fork of the San Gabriel River. Therefore, the visitors camp along the stream, often too close. Although the majority of the campers are responsible, a small percentage is not. A small percentage of a large number yields a significant number of irresponsible campers. The staggering amount of trash and human waste seriously compromises the hydrology of the canyon. I propose the construction of new, supervised campgrounds and the closing of all other areas along the stream to car camping. The study area includes San Antonio Canyon and its water shed. I am concerned about the heavy traffic of bicyclists. A serious accident is likely. George Duffy, a previous wilderness manager of the San Gabriel River Ranger District, had a marvelous solution: convert the old, now abandoned road at the bottom of the canyon into a Class I bicycling trail. A proper Class I cycling trail could also be built from Claremont to the fire station.
• I fish the West fork of the San Gabriel often and see that there isn't adequate trash collection, trash cans, and restrooms. I have volunteered to go out and pick up trash along the river, but there needs to be regular staff for year round maintenance.
• I like the idea of "river rangers". The San Gabriel River, with its easy access is heavily used and abused. This area desperately needs more agency "presence", be it in the form of law enforcement personnel (recommended) or interpretive staff. It is my hope that this would result in educating the public and correcting some of the abusive practices by visitors that currently exist within this watershed.
• My main concern with this area is the amount of crime, litter, and abuse bestowed upon the easily-accessed natural areas. The ANF receives an amount of visitor use days similar to that of Yosemite National Park, and yet one doesn't see trash all over the place in Yosemite; graffiti on rocks and trees; and cars broken into at many of the parking lots and turnouts. The purpose of the study, as indicated in the presentation materials and the website is to "Identify opportunities for public enjoyment and recreation." How can anyone enjoy recreating in a filthy area, full of graffiti and hooligans, all the while worrying about whether or not their car will be intact once back from a hike or picnic? Not only do these conditions detract from the recreation experience, they are also a clear threat to the natural resources within the study area. I highly recommend each alternative concept focus on these constraints to having an enjoyable recreation experience, and provide management strategies to improve on these conditions.  
• Angeles National Forest - Vogel Flats and Wildwood Picnic areas as well as Big Tujunga Canyon needs to be closed to the public unless there is sufficient funding to patrol the area from the time it opens until it closes. Every single year the people would leave dirty diapers on the streams, beer bottles, burn their religious candles...no one monitoring these areas ever...constantly setting campfires. Private Residents on Stonyvale Road who own their land were running them off, no one from USFS. Hikers are not a problem on Mt. Lukens. They are clean and respectful. The Hispanic populations which are the only ones that come to these areas have no respect for the endangered species or people living there, they are fire hazards themselves etc. They were even damming Big Tujunga Canyon Creek to make their swimming holes bigger.
• Certainly San Gabriel Canyon needs help in that the Forest Service can't keep up with the number of visitors. It gets trashed very quickly. Graffiti is always a problem as well as trash. If the Park Service is maintaining this area or helping in this area, the resources should not be spread too thinly.

• The SRS fails to address the "realities" of the significant and irrevocable impacts of such an effort on the rural communities that are located between the ANF and the urban communities that the NPS seeks to serve. Obviously, expanding recreational opportunities in the ANF for the benefit of urban residents will significantly increase traffic, noise and congestion in these rural communities (along with other substantial problems which always attend such impacts). Creating a National Recreation Area along Acton's entire southern boundary (as proposed in Alternative Concept "A") raises many concerns for the community of Acton, not the least of which is that it will expand access opportunities into and through our community from urban core areas. This will certainly increase traffic, noise, and congestion within our community, and create other substantial problems which always attend such impacts.
• San Gabriel Trails are already overpopulated on weekends and major holidays especially Big Santa Anita Canyon. There is already no parking patrol/etc.
• As the LA basin becomes more densely populated, these mountains will become ever more valuable to the physical, mental and spiritual health of the people.
• I feel that having the area as a National Recreational Area it could slow down if not stop the trashing of the mountain and desert areas.
• During that 30 year process I personally, along with many others, witnesses first hand the black and Hispanic gangs taking over all of the parks in the Los Angeles areas, until finally there were no parks remaining which were either in adequate condition for reasonable use (all due to neglect? Because park employees refused to enter for fear of their own safety) or they were not safe enough for anyone to use. There are many beautiful parks and related facilities in and around the Los Angeles areas, therefore I strongly suggest that you take the same monies and go clean up what we already own and make all such facilities once again useful to all. Take care of what you have before taking on more.
• The San Gabriel Mountains area is already heavily used. More people mean more impact in an already frail area, especially after the current Station fire. For that reason, I OPPOSE creation of a San Gabriel Watershed National Recreation Area.
• The Angeles National Forest is one of the top three most heavily visited recreational forests in the United States and it is located next to the nation's second largest urban population. Despite growing recreational needs, the ability of the Forest Service to support forest visitors is actually declining. The Angeles Forest spends only about one dollar per visitor on law enforcement, educational materials, interpretive services, and visitor center management. The Station Fire, the largest in the history of the Angeles National Forest, has exacerbated this shortage of recreational opportunities and funds for public services. Outside of the forest our region's youth obesity and diabetes crisis is growing, bringing new urgency to connecting our people and communities back to our mountains and rivers. The San Gabriel Watershed and Mountains Special Resource Study could be a game changer, offering new solutions to meet these challenges.
• The following elements should also be included in the stated purposes of the NRA: Improving recreational quality in concentrated use areas as along the San Gabriel River (more trash cans and trash bags), with rangers (ideally bilingual), interpretive signs, toilets, safe access trails through a cooperative effort between the National Park Service and the Forest Service and rehabilitating areas damaged by overuse.
• The San Gabriel Mountains and their wondrously diverse flora and fauna stand in stark contrast to the over-development and over-population of Los Angeles and Orange Counties. They are precious natural jewels that deserve conservation and preservation. I will do what I can. Please step up and protect and defend these amazing and gorgeous places.
• I and most of the community of Mt. Baldy support most of Alternative C. However, it should not include the Mt Baldy community. We are already saturated, especially in winter, with the snow players. Frequently, the road must be closed because emergency equipment cannot move through the community and recreation area.
• I support a large NRA in the ANF as proposed in Concept A. To this NRA, I would add the San Gabriel River from Azusa to Pico Rivera. The idea of this is that the NPS could provide additional resources to better manage recreation in the National Forest. For example, all overnight camping within 3 miles of a road should be restricted to established campgrounds in order to prevent over-crowding and unsanitary conditions.