Edgar McGregor

President Joe Biden announced Thursday that the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument has been expanded by 105,919 acres, including 86% of the land area in Eaton Canyon. This declaration comes 10 years after President Obama designated much of the northern and eastern San Gabriel Mountains as a National Monument. The designation gives the area additional protections from extractive businesses that the Forest Service would otherwise have more difficulty refusing such as mining, logging, and commercial development. Although the immedient Eaton Canyon area was not facing any of these issues at the moment, the designation prevents those issues from arising in the distant future.

This designation does not impact the County of Los Angeles Parks and Recreation area or Pasadena Water and Power section of Eaton Canyon.

The plan, as claimed by the White House, was a move to help further protect lands most accessible to low-income communities in Southern California. As outlined in this prior MyEatonCanyon.com article, Eaton Canyon is one of the most accessible waterfall hiking trails to millions of Angelinos.

Despite this being a step in the right direction, many issues the Angeles National Forest face are not directly being addressed in the National Monument expansion. The East Fork of the San Gabriel River is still one of the most polluted natural riverbeds located within a National Monument in the United States with obscene levels of litter plaguing the area. The Los Angeles Times has written extensively about the issue here.

The National Monument expansion designation, at least for the moment, does not result in any additional funding for a National Forest that sees higher vistation than either Yosemite or Yellowstone. Millions of Angelinos visit the Angeles National Forest every year, and the high visitation has taken a toll on the natural wilderness. Invasive plant species, climate change, explosive wildfires, litter, and graffiti all negatively impact the forest. It takes jobs and physical labor to protect natural lands, not just designations.

On Saturday, April 20th, 2024, the Eaton Canyon Nature Center hosted it’s 2024 Earth Day event with multiple conservation events, nature-themed booths, and games for kids. Over 500 visitors had the chance to make arts and crafts, learn about the native plants and animals in Eaton Canyon, and give back to the canyon itself.

Eleven volunteers and three staff members helped sort all of the recycling Eaton Canyon had been building up since last Christmas. Over twenty 75-gallon bags of either plastic, aluminum, or glass were filled and made ready to take to the local recycling center. Once turned in for cash, the Nature Center uses the money to purchase food and supplies for the animal ambassadors on site.

While these volunteers sorted recycling, the WeExploreEarth hiking group conducted a trash pickup along the main trail from the Nature Center all the way to the Eaton Canyon Falls within the Angeles National Forest. Volunteers said the entire trail was fairly clean, but the waterfall itself within the National Forest boundary had quite a bit of trash. Once finished with the recycling, some volunteers continued to give back to the canyon by helping to clear invasive plant species from the service road along the lower Eaton Wash.

At approximately 11:30am, the park had to be shut down after multiple cars began parking on a steep slope in the overflow lot that contained tall grasses. This action is highly dangerous as the exhaust pipe of vehicles can reach 2,800°F and ignite the grasses underneath. Vehicles driving or parking over dry grasses is a common way wildfires start in California. Fuel loads statewide are at record highs after 2 straight years of wetter than average conditions. All gates were closed for about an hour to allow the parking lots to empty out. This is the third time Eaton Canyon has had to be shut down in 2024 due to excessive visitation.

During the second half of April 2024 the California Conservation Corps in partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation will work to replace or remove nearly 200 signs, inconspicuous poles, and maps throughout all of Eaton Canyon. The work will be conducted between where the Eaton Canyon Trail begins in the Equestrian Area and end at the Chuck Ballard Memorial Bridge at the canyon mouth.

For some time now, signage at Eaton Canyon had been okay in some areas and unacceptable in others. One location of note were the signs located by the Walnut Canyon turnoff which had been so heavily graffitied and sun-bleached over the years that they were completely illegible and an eye-sore. Of them, half the signs were beyond cleaning. Many signs throughout the park faced graffiti on a weekly basis, while others such as the mile marker signs were pulled up and tossed in Eaton Creek by visitors. Thanks to work by Eaton Canyon Nature Center staff, Eaton Canyon Natural Area volunteers, and funding from Los Angeles County, all signs and poles are now going to be removed or replaced. In fact, the work has already begun.

In addition to all signs being replaced, many inconspicuous poles, concrete rocks, and even one pole that is a tripping hazard on the main trail itself will be removed from the canyon. New interpretive signage regarding Eaton Canyon’s history, natural wonders, and wildlife designed by the Nature Center Associates will be going up on the trails surrounding the Nature Center.

Due to Eaton Canyon’s harsh, rocky soils, this work is expected to take up to 2-3 weeks and should be finished in early May.