Range of Light National Monument: Coalition Letter to President Biden
Tuesday, July 23, 2024*
Dear President Biden, Secretary Haaland, & Chair Mallory:
Your administration set the historic goal of conserving 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030, and the Range of Light National Monument will help fulfill that incredible land legacy in a big way.
We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, encourage you to protect the 1.4 million acres of federal land between Yosemite and Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks as the Range of Light National Monument. This extraordinary place, between the parks and in the center of the longest interconnected wilderness in the lower 48 states, presents a rare opportunity to create an integrated ecosystem in one the most biodiverse places in the world.
From the blue oak woodlands to the granite spires of the high alpine, the beauty and biodiversity of the Sierra Nevada is nothing short of remarkable. While the Sierra Nevada takes up only 20 percent of California’s land mass, half of its native plant species live there and more than 400 of its species are found nowhere else on earth, including the infamous giant sequoia. The Range of Light National Monument is home to 24 species listed as endangered or threatened by state and federal agencies, six distinct ecoregions, and three major watersheds: the Kings, the Merced and the San Joaquin Rivers, which support wildlife, fish, farms, and families.
Not only will the monument benefit native species, but it will serve humanity, where it is most needed. The closest urban area to the monument is Fresno, and it is ranked as the second worst metro area in America to raise children based on the Child Opportunity Index (COI), outranked only by Bakersfield just to the south. Fresno’s concentrated poverty rate is the highest in California, and its residents suffer through the worst air pollution in the nation, the highest levels of asthma, (20 percent of adults and 17 percent of children have asthma) and the lowest levels of local parks. Youth and families in this region deserve the opportunity to experience parks and natural places that are free of pollution.
This monument offers that, and more. The new national monument, managed by the National Park Service, will also increase local employment by some 2,900 jobs – providing 40 new jobs for every job displaced. This will catalyze park-based tourism, residential growth, and business opportunities, increasing them to $1.1 billion annually, when combined with Yosemite and Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks.
Finally, adding 1.4 million acres to America’s conserved lands would significantly advance the goal of protecting 30 percent of the nation’s lands by 2030. This would preserve and expand forests and soils sequestering carbon and create a wildlife corridor enabling plants and animals to adapt to climate change.
The Antiquities Act is a critically important presidential tool that has played a pivotal role in our country’s history, and in the history of the National Park Service. As advocates for the protection of our National Parks, public lands, and nature itself –– we urge you to use the Antiquities Act to protect the southern Sierra Nevada, and create Range of Light National Monument for people and wildlife for all time.
Sincerely,
- 350 Bay Area Action
- 350 Eugene
- 350 Salem Oregon
- 350 Seattle
- 350Hawaii
- 350PDX
- Adventure Safety International
- Aequor Inc.
- Alliance for the Wild Rockies
- Animals Are Sentient Beings, Inc.
- Anthropocene Alliance
- Arts District Community Council Los Angeles
- Athens County’s Future Action Network
- AV Exit, LLC
- Aytzim: Ecological Judaism
- Battle Creek Alliance
- Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project
- Bozeman Birders
- California Chaparral Institute
- Californians for Energy Choice
- Cascadia Climate Action Now
- Christians Caring for Creation
- Christians For The Mountains
- Clean Energy Action
- CleanEarth4Kids.org
- Climate Action Now, Western Massachusetts
- Climate Communications Coalition
- Climate Reality Bay Area Chapter
- Climate Reality Chapter, Sacramento
- Climate reality Massachusetts Southcoast
- Climate Reality Project San Diego
- Climate Reality Project, Riverside County Chapter
- Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks
- Coastal Plain Conservation Group
- Co-Chair
- Conservation Congress
- Creation Justice Ministries
- Dogwood Alliance
- Don’t Waste Arizona
- Earth Ethics, Inc.
- Earth Law Center
- Earth Neighborhood Productions
- ecoAmerica
- Eco-Integrity Alliance
- Elders Climate Action Northern California Chapter
- Empower Our Future
- Endangered Species Coalition
- Environmental Center of San Diego
- Environmental Education Fund
- Environmental Protection Information Center
- Extinction Rebellion San Francisco Bay Area
- Feather River Action!
- Forest Keeper
- Forest Unlimited
- Forests Forever
- Foundation Earth
- Friends of Big Bear Valley
- Friends of the Bitterroot
- Friends of the Clearwater
- Friends of the Earth US
- Gallatin Wildlife Association
- Gallatin Yellowstone Wilderness Alliance
- Green Latinos
- Heartwood
- Heirs To Our Ocean
- Inland Ocean Coalition
- Interfaith Oceans program
- Intheshadowofthewolf
- John Muir Project
- Kettle Range Conservation Group
- Klamath Forest Alliance
- Last Tree Laws
- Last Tree Laws Massachusetts
- Latino Outdoors
- Legal Rights for the Salish Sea
- Los Padres ForestWatch
- Massachusetts Forest Watch
- Melrose UU Church Climate Action Team
- MO’s Defensible Space
- Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center
- Natural Resources Law
- New Jersey Forest Watch
- North American Climate, Conservation and Environment (NACCE)
- North County Climate Change Alliance
- Northwest Watershed Institute
- NTS Group
- Oil and Gas Action Network
- Old-Growth Forest Network
- One Earth
- Our City SF
- Peace Action Wisconsin
- Project Monarch LA
- Protect Our Woods
- Protect Thacker Pass
- Public Land Media
- Public Lands Conservancy
- Putnam Progressives
- Rachel Carson Council
- RESTORE: The North Woods
- Ridgeview Conservancy
- Santa Clarita Organization for Planning and the Environment (SCOPE)
- Santa Cruz Climate Action Network
- Santa Fe Forest Coalition
- Selkirk Conservation Alliance
- Sequoia ForestKeeper
- Shawnee Natural Area Guardians
- Sisters of St. Dominic of Blauvelt, NY
- Soda Mountain Wilderness Council
- Sonoma County Climate Activist Network (SoCoCAN!)
- Spokane Audubon Society
- Standing Trees
- Sustainable Central Savannah River Area
- Sustainable Mill Valley
- Swan View Coalition
- Terra Advocati
- The Climate Reality Project: California Coalition
- The Enviro Show
- The Forest Advocate
- The People’s Justice Council
- The Wei LLC
- Thurston Climate Action Team
- Tree Action Group
- Timbuctoo Mountain Club
- Turtle Island Restoration Network
- Umpqua Natural Leadership Science Hub
- Umpqua Watersheds
- Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community
- Valley Watch, Inc.
- Vote Climate
- Wall of Women
- Water League
- We Advocate Thorough Environmental Review
- Western Watersheds Project
- Wild Heritage
- Wild Watershed
- WildEarth Guardians
- Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network
- World Rainforest Fund
- World Stewardship Institute
- Yaak Valley Forest Council
- National Religious Coalition on Creation
- Young Democrats of America Environmental Caucus
- Unite the Parks
*List is being updated daily; the date reflects last recorded update.