‘For generations to come’: Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument expansion a win in decadeslong fight for sacred lands

President Joe Biden signed a proclamation Thursday to expand the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, a move that will fully conserve sacred lands of the Patwin people that boast historic significance and remarkable biological diversity.

Biden directed the new area — previously referred to as “Walker Ridge” — officially be renamed Molok Luyuk, which means “Condor Ridge” in the Patwin language. The Yoche Dehe Wintun Nation provided the name.

“We look forward to the day when condors fly over Molok Luyuk once again,” said Anthony Roberts, chairman of the Tribal Council of the Yocha Dehe.

Thursday’s proclamation follows at least 20 years of the tribe’s fight to see their land restored. Elements of Molok Luyuk have traditional cultural significance to the tribe, dating back thousands of years. The ridge includes areas where religious ceremonies are practiced, along with sites that were part of important trading routes.

Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument — which covers a mountainous region spanning Napa, Yolo, Solano, Lake, Colusa, Glenn and Mendocino counties — was first designated by President Barack Obama in 2015. It originally spanned 330,000 acres.

The expansion Thursday adds nearly 14,000 acres, primarily in Lake and Colusa counties and largely focused on an area north of Highway 20.

The Yoche Dehe nation thanked Biden for signing the proclamation in a news release. A tribal representative wasn’t immediately available for an interview Thursday.

“(It’s) an area steeped in thousands of years of rich history and profound meaning to the Patwin people, whose traditional territory stretches south from these hills to the shores of San Pablo Bay and east to the Sacramento River,” Roberts said in the release.

Remarkable biological diversity

A key provision of the effort is establishing comanagement of the region between the Bureau of Land Management and the Patwin tribes of Yolo and Colusa counties — and that other tribes with land in the existing monument are supportive of those efforts.

Conservationists have aided in the tribe’s efforts to preserve the land.

Nick Jensen, botanist and conservation program director at the California Native Plant Society, said Thursday the region has a remarkably high level of plant diversity, which botanists and biologists have long known.

The entirety of the Molok Luyuk ridge area is a little over 20,000 acres, he said, and it includes about 7% of the diversity of California’s plants — within about 0.02% of the state’s total land area. A high number of rare plants also can be found on the ridge, he said.

That biological diversity is connected to the physical conditions of the landscape there, according to Jensen, including geological and topographical diversity.

“You have everything from oak woodland, to shrub-dominated habitats that we call chaparral, to extensive habitats influenced by our state rock, which is serpentinite,” Jensen said.

“When you add all that you, you just have a pretty darn spectacular place for plants. And of course, when you have diversity on the plant side of things and a variety of habitats, that supports a variety of animals.”

Jensen added that bringing the region under the national monument adds another layer of protection for the land, and essentially begins a process of management planning for the area.

Sandra Schubert, executive director of conservation nonprofit Tuleyome, said efforts to conserve Molok Luyuk have been ongoing for decades. It took a while to build on the ground support, she said, and a coalition of conservation and tribal groups was built to push for conservation of the area.

Leaders advocate for land

Schubert attributed much of the success of the movement to conserve the land to U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, who worked to have the original monument established and also pushed for the expansion, along with other government representatives.

Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla joined Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, in the advocacy.

“It’s just a really unique area that deserves protection,” Schubert said.

State Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, who has also pushed for the expansion on the state level, said Thursday the area is one of the most “scenic and diverse landscapes in all of California.”

The expansion of the monument “greatly enhances this public treasure,” he said.

“It was essential to include this additional piece, which was home to native tribes for thousands of years,” Dodd said. “By doing so, we recognize the land’s cultural significance while protecting it for generations to come.”

Local benefit

The coalition did considerable work in Lake and Colusa counties to push for the importance of conservation in the Molok Luyuk area — by “pounding the pavement, going door-to-door to businesses, meeting with city council members and county supervisors and locals, really talking about what this means, why it’s important for the natural and cultural resources,” Schubert said.

Part of the messaging was that conservation would benefit the Lake and Colusa economies via ecotourism, she added.

There are great areas on the ridge for picnicking or photography, with opportunities for hiking and equestrian trails. There’s also a campground — though it needs to be cleaned, she said — that’s in a beautiful location.

“The economic and eco-recreational benefits we can get out of it are really significant,” she said. “I think people just started seeing that.”

There were some difficulties along the way to Thursday’s proclamation, though. There had been efforts to instead build a wind energy farm, with dozens of turbines, in the Molok Luyuk area. But that push ultimately failed.

“I think it became pretty apparent that this is not a good spot for that,” Schubert said. “We all support renewable energy, but you need it in the right place where you actually get energy and you’re not destroying other resources.”

With the land coming under protected status, Schubert said, there’s much work to do. A management plan needs to be developed, including how the land, places and cultural objects there can be protected. Another step is on-the-ground stewardship projects.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Schubert said. “We’re a good, strong coalition, so I anticipate we’ll be doing this work all together going forward. Which is exciting to be able to work with all these amazing groups and people and tribes.”

You can reach Staff Writer Edward Booth at 707-521-5281 or edward.booth@pressdemocrat.com.