Local Advocates Thank Senator Padilla & Representatives Garamendi & Thompson For their Continued Calls on the Biden Administration to Expand Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument
Tuleyome Praises the Updated Letter to the Biden Administration Continuing to Advocate for the Protection of the Entirety of Molok Luyuk
Sacramento, CA — Today, Tuleyome, a Woodland-based nonprofit conservation organization, expressed their gratitude to Senator Alex Padilla and Representatives John Garamendi and Mike Thompson for sending an updated letter calling on President Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to expand Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in Northern California by protecting the entirety of Molok Luyuk.
Tribal and community leaders and elected officials have urged the Biden Administration to expand the existing monument to protect the area along the eastern edge of the existing monument known as Molok Luyuk. Molok Luyuk is Patwin for “Condor Ridge” and is a name provided by the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation. The area is currently known as “Walker Ridge.”
The expansion of the national monument would safeguard public lands that are sacred to the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and are critically important to protect in the face of a changing climate.
Sandra Schubert, Executive Director of Tuleyome, issued this statement:
Tuleyome is grateful to our Congressional champions Senator Padilla and Representatives Garamendi and Thompson for their continued support of the effort to expand Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. We appreciate their most recent updated letter to President Biden and Interior Department Secretary Deb Haaland urging the Administration to use its authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to protect the entirety of Molok Luyuk. By building on the letter they sent earlier this year, they reaffirm their support of this important effort.
We also appreciate that the updated letter continues to reiterate the requests that Secretary Haaland order the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to rename “Walker Ridge” to “Condor Ridge” and “Molok Luyuk” in the Patwin language of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and other local Indigenous tribes. The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation’s connection to this area stretches back thousands of years. The land is of tremendous present-day cultural and religious importance to the Tribe and includes sites central to their origin stories. They have advocated for the protection of these lands, a return to an Indigenous name, and the establishment of co-management with federally recognized Tribes.
Our coalition, many of whom are at California’s 30x30 partnership gathering today celebrating conservation efforts across the state, continues to urge President Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to expand Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument to include all of Molok Loyuk. In addition to being sacred to local Tribes, the region is home to imperiled wildlife including bald and golden eagles, badgers, peregrine falcons, and over 30 species of rare plants. These BLM- managed lands include oak woodlands, rocky outcroppings with unique geology, meadows of wildflowers, forests of pine, and the world’s largest stand of McNab cypress.
The area is also popular for recreation including hiking, sightseeing, mountain biking, camping, horseback riding, and off-highway vehicle (OHV) use on designated routes. The expansion would help improve access to the outdoors for the region’s residents and visitors alike. Incorporating this federally-owned land into the existing national monument would improve land management and public access, and protect sensitive wildlife, prime habitat areas, and cultural resources.
To learn more about this effort and to sign a petition in support of the expansion of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, visit www.expandberryessa.org.
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About Tuleyome
Formed in 2002, Tuleyome is a regional non-profit organization headquartered in Woodland, CA, with a footprint throughout the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument region. Tuleyome is a Lake Miwok Indian word that means “deep home place,” illustrating our organization’s deep connection to our environment, our communities, and our regional lands. Tuleyome’s mission is to provide advocacy and active stewardship to conserve, enhance, restore, and enjoy lands in the Northern Inner Coast Range region. Working with partners, we have protected vast areas of public lands, from large swaths such as the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument and Cache Creek State Wild and Scenic River to Woodland Regional Park Preserve. For more information, visit https://www.tuleyome.org/.
