On Friday, October 9, the Nature for All (N4A) Coalition gathered with supporters, partners, community leaders, and elected officials at Azusa Wilderness Park, the gateway to the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument (SGMNM), to celebrate the monument’s 12th anniversary, reflect on our progress, and look ahead to the work needed to protect these public lands and connect more people to them. Thank you to N4A for organizing and bringing us together in nature!
The program opened with a land acknowledgment and blessing from Seth Johnson of the Gabrieleño Tongva Band of Mission Indians and Nathan Nunez, a lineal descendant of Japchivit, grounding us in the deep cultural and ancestral connections to these lands. We were honored to welcome Congresswoman Judy Chu, who has led the effort to designate, expand and now protect the San Gabriels, in partnership with Senator Alex Padilla. We also welcomed Belinda Faustinos, N4A’s former Executive Director during the original designation, and Jamahl Butler, the new U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Angeles National Forest Supervisor. We heard from N4A’s Bryan Matsumoto, who shared an update on the Transit to Trails initiative, and from Duke, who highlighted APIFM’s Mobilizing Youth Advocates for Resilient Communities (MYARC) program and the importance of engaging youth in the SGMNM. Partners from the San Gabriel Valley Conservation Corps (SGVCC) and the Council of Mexican Federations in North America (COFEM) closed the program by sharing their youth work and promotoras program, respectively.
Why These Lands Matter
President Barack Obama designated the 346,177-acre SGM as a National Monument on October 10, 2014, using the Antiquities Act to protect a treasured landscape within the Angeles National Forest (ANF). In 2024, President Joe Biden expanded the monument by 105,919 acres, bringing the total protected area to 452,096 acres of mountains, forests, watersheds, wildlife habitat, cultural sites, and outdoor spaces for millions of people.
For our community in the San Gabriel Valley (SGV), these lands are the closest access to nature. They offer outdoor learning and leadership opportunities for youth, a refuge from extreme heat, cleaner air, and almost 80% of the water we use.
Our Shared Work
The N4A Coalition exists to protect, steward, and connect people to the SGMNM and the ANF. APIFM has been proud to be part of this coalition since 2018, uplifting API voices, advocating for equitable access to nature and language access, bringing community members into nature, developing youth leaders, and helping protect these treasured lands.
The gathering featured a land acknowledgment and blessing from Seth Johnson of the Gabrieleno Tongva Band of Mission Indians and Nathan Nunez of Japchivit, a Native American village in the SGM; remarks from Rep Chu; former N4A Executive Director Belinda Faustinos, and ANF Supervisor Butler, as well as updates from partners on the Transit to Trails: LA Mountain Express shuttle program, APIFM’s MYARC youth leadership program, and youth and promotoras programs from SGVCC and COFEM.
