Readers React:  San Gabriel Mountains National Monument: protecting L.A.’s backyard

To the editor: Kudos to Thomas Curwen for his elegant essay on the San Gabriel Mountains and President Obama’s decision to set aside much of this area as a national monument. (“Past and present meet in L.A.’s uncertain wilderness,” Oct. 8)

As a fly fisherman and local steward of the San Gabriel River, I am writing in support of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. The San Gabriel Mountains and rivers have endured more than a century of devastation and misuse, yet the forks of the San Gabriel River still run clear, cold, and support wild rainbow trout. These wild spaces are resilient, but they can only endure so much.

Sportsmen have worked for years to protect and restore the San Gabriels, and now, Obama has joined us in permanently protecting this amazing place.

Drew Irby, Mission Viejo

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To the editor: Let me get this straight: Currently, the San Gabriels are beset with graffiti, garbage and illegal campfires, and the paths and picnic sites are littered with broken glass and dirty diapers.

This is not due to a lack of money for the U.S. Forest Service but to the fact that human beings are thoughtless, dirty, irresponsible creatures.

The idea of carving out a large part of this area for the federal government to manage with more money as a way to bring more of these horrid creatures into the mountains is a joke, right?

Myrna Heldfond, Santa Ynez

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