
There are moments in life that change you forever. That moment came for me last October when President Obama officially designated the San Gabriel Mountains a national monument.
I had been waiting for an opportunity like this since I was a kid. I grew up in El Monte, in the shadow of the majestic mountain range that I could always see, but never reach. Like many in my community, I didn't have access to a car and I never got a chance to explore this wonder in my backyard.
There are many young people in urban communities who are ready to become environmental enthusiasts and support conservation efforts. Photo courtesy of San Gabriel Valley Conservation Corps.
When President Obama decided to protect the natural beauty of the San Gabriels, he noted that he was doing so as part of a long tradition of preserving the best of our nation for generations to come. But for the urban, park-poor neighborhoods that see the mountains, but have yet to visit them, he made another crucial point: conservation isn't about locking away these treasures, but about finding ways to open up the outdoors to everybody, across ages, ethnicities and socioeconomic circumstances.
Finding a way to help untapped communities develop a relationship with nature is critical to the future preservation of our natural resources, but it will require a shift in how we engage people with the outdoors.
Here in Southern California, the U.S. Forest Service has a creative partnership with the San Gabriel Valley Conservation Corp (SGVCC), which provides youth leadership and vocational training through jobs in the outdoors. Youth have had opportunities since the national monument designation to work alongside park rangers to keep the mountains in pristine condition. This program offered me the chance to develop a meaningful relationship with the outdoors, and finally stand amidst the peaks that I'd only ever seen from a distance. It offered me a direct path to nature that transformed my life.
There are many other young people in urban communities who are ready to become environmental enthusiasts and support conservation efforts, if only given the chance to fall in love with nature as I did. Just as the Forest Service is doing with the San Gabriel Mountains, state parks need to rethink how they manage public lands and connect diverse community groups to nature. It's not enough anymore to expect that people will make their way to these treasured spaces. The outdoors need to be relevant to future users in order to protect our natural resources, and ensure that every resident has the opportunity to enjoy their environmental patrimony.
--
--
For me, a bond was created with the San Gabriel Mountains when I was given a chance to be part of its care and preservation. I decided to go a step further than my work with SGVCC and now I attend fire tech classes at Rio Hondo College. My studies will prepare me to become a wildland firefighter - the calling I discovered thanks to SGVCC and the opportunities I've had over the past year.
The transition from park deprived to park supporter can be replicated through a concerted effort to better connect new communities to the outdoors that reimagines the way people experience nature.
The California Parks Forward Commission calls for parks visitors to reflect the demographics of the state's population by 2025, and lays out a roadmap to get there. The Commission has provided concrete proposals like better programs, maintenance improvements and technology upgrades that can truly bring state parks into the 21st century and make them accessible for all.
For younger generations, enjoying nature means being able to share the experience collectively. Photo courtesy of San Gabriel Valley Conservation Corps.
The recommendations want to remove the buffer between nature and California's urban communities. By proactively pursuing opportunities of greater engagement, citizens will have a better chance of getting outdoors more often.
At San Gabriel, park officials are doing this through beautification projects that turn basic picnic areas into community gathering spaces that welcome families and large groups to host outdoor gatherings more easily. They are adding more picnic benches, cleaning the picnic areas and working with community groups to make make the garbage bins public art displays. By creating signage in multiple languages, creating social spaces in parks and even providing transportation options that make it easier for people to reach recreational areas, park officials can help first-time users overcome the fears and obstacles that keep people away.
I look to my daughter as another reflection of the changing relationship between Californians and our parks.
For me, the San Gabriel Mountains offers a place of solitude where I can get away from the hustle and bustle of urban Los Angeles. This is often the traditional understanding of how one might interact with nature, but my own seven-year-old daughter opened me up to many more possibilities.
My daughter doesn't appreciate the solitude of the outdoors, finding greater pleasure in sharing the experience with her friends and loved ones. Wanting to provide her and her friends the chance to enjoy this space together, I have partnered with her school to bring her class on a field trip to the mountains. That way, she and 30 of her friends will experience the trails and new picnic areas collectively. The hope is this exposure will spark a lifelong interest in discovering and protecting our natural heritage.
This is the kind of approach we need to take as we move forward in our parks system: helping all people access parks and making them feel comfortable when they arrive. If we can address these issues, we can cultivate a population that cherishes our parks system and to invest in its preservation.
Top image:
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
07/08/2025
July 8 2025, 22:30 (PDT) Tata Motors & Dolby Bring Dolby Atmos to Harrier.ev, R...
13/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: MLB Network Marks Five Straight Years of Onsite MLB...
12/07/2025
Ryan Coogler accepting the 2013 Vanguard Award. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez.
Editor's Note: In honor of Fruitvale Station s 12th anniversary, we're d...
12/07/2025
Key Code Education, the professional training division of Key Code Media, proudly announces a major update to its Adobe Premiere Pro Engineering and Advanced Op...
12/07/2025
Key Code Education, a leader in instructor-led post production training for over...
12/07/2025
As the death toll continues to mount, with at least 120 killed and more than 170 people still missing on July 10 from devastating Texas floods, a number of broa...
12/07/2025
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., and MIAMI -DirecTV and TelevisaUnivision have signed a deal that will make the ad-supported premium subscription tier of ViX, ViX Premium wi...
11/07/2025
PARK CITY, UTAH, July 11, 2025 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the 11 producers chosen for its annual Producers Labs, returning to Ucross Fou...
11/07/2025
If you've ever wondered what might be playing in Clark Kent's headphones...
11/07/2025
L3Harris Technologies President of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Jason Lambert and General Manager of L3Harris Waco facility Sean Ling held a ce...
11/07/2025
ARLINGTON, Va. WETA, the flagship public media station in the national capital area, has launched WETA+, a new streaming service tailored for the local Washingt...
11/07/2025
The Federal Communications Commission has emerged as one of the central players in the broadcast TV landscape in 2025, with its deregulatory policies sparking h...
11/07/2025
Calrec will introduce usability, customization and system enhancements across its entire range of Argo consoles during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Amsterda...
11/07/2025
LONDON Encompass Digital Media said it will support live and on-demand viewing of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup across multiple global regions for sports enterta...
11/07/2025
Two-thirds of broadcast engineers reaped the benefits of a pay raise within the last year....
11/07/2025
CARY, N.C. SmallHD has launched the Quantum 27, a new 26.5-inch Quantum-Dot OLED monitor designed to deliver postproduction image quality in a compact, set-frie...
11/07/2025
The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau and Tegna have entered into a consent decree that will settle an investigation into the accidenta...
11/07/2025
WASHINGTON Following news in early July that Paramount had settled President Donald Trump's lawsuit, Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Ben Ray Luj n (D-N...
11/07/2025
Model/Actriz Performs Lead Single Cinderella on The Late Show with Stephen Colbe...
11/07/2025
Behind the Mic: Amazon Prime Preps for First Season of NBA Action; MSG Networks ...
11/07/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Suite Studios' Craig Hering on Adapting to Client...
11/07/2025
2025 SVG Content Management Forum Breaks Down AI's Impact, Continued Transit...
11/07/2025
A Journey HOME: University of Nebraska's HuskerVision Goes IP Leaders from the HuskerVision and Lawo share their IP learnings By SVG Staff
Friday, July 1...
11/07/2025
CMSI, Remote Picture Labs, Ace ESPN's Cloud-Based Editing Efforts for Wimble...
11/07/2025
Netflix Enters the Live-Boxing-Production Ring for Round 2 With Historic Taylor-...
11/07/2025
Back to All News
Too Hot to Handle: Italy Is Coming on July 18 Only on Netflix
Entertainment
11 July 2025
GlobalItaly
Link copied to clipboard
July 11, 20...
11/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Will Release Death Inc. Seasons 1, 2 and 3
Entertainment
11 July 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Season 1
Season 2
Se...
11/07/2025
AI and Multimedia Authenticity Standards Collaboration launches two papers to guide the future of AI integration, today at the AI for Good Global Summit
The...
11/07/2025
Ceramics - the humble mix of earth, fire and artistry - have been part of a global conversation for millennia.
From Tang Dynasty trade routes to Renaissance pa...
10/07/2025
The current holder of the prestigious Thomson Foundation Young Journalist of the Year Award has been forced to stop reporting over fears for her safety in Afgha...
10/07/2025
Spotify is turning up the volume on Australian music with a multipronged initiative designed to highlight the dominance of Australian artists on the global stag...
10/07/2025
This is not a drill: Oasis is back on the road-marking its first live performanc...
10/07/2025
The music industry depends on fresh ideas, bold voices, and emerging talent. Yet across the U.K., too many young musicians lack the space to develop their craft...
10/07/2025
NEW YORK - July 10, 2025 - Nielsen, the global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, today announced that it appointed Richard Pacheco as head of ...
10/07/2025
Local newscasts don't exist in a vacuum. News directors and station management constantly evaluate what's working, what isn't and perhaps most impor...
10/07/2025
Lawo has announced that Stuttgart Media University (Hochschule der Medien, HdM) has comprehensively modernized its central recording studio after selecting an I...
10/07/2025
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has opened early-bird registration for the Media Technology Summit, which will take place in a ne...
10/07/2025
NASHVILLE, Tenn. TNDV Television has launched Aspiration 35, a new version of its 40-foot Aspiration truck reimagined for cinematic multicamera productions....
10/07/2025
BURBANK, Calif. Key Code Education, a provider of instructor-led postproduction training, is growing its curriculum with new programs for beginner and intermedi...
10/07/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. Actus Digital will demonstrate how broadcasters can transform compliance monitoring from a necessary expense into a strategic revenue driver at...
10/07/2025
The Federal Register has published a summary of the Federal Communications Commission's Public Notice seeking comments on its ownership rules that lists a d...
10/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Presents the Official Trailer for SuperestarPlay Video
Play Video
Entertainment
10 July 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard...
10/07/2025
In the race to understand our planet's changing climate, speed and accuracy are everything. But today's most widely used climate simulators often strugg...
10/07/2025
As one of the world's largest emerging markets, Indonesia is making strides toward its Golden 2045 Vision - an initiative tapping digital technologies and...
10/07/2025
10 Jul 2025
VEON and Cohen Circle Secure Investor Commitments for Kyivstar Listing Kyiv, New York, Dubai, and Philadelphia - July 10, 2025 - VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq:...
10/07/2025
5G for all? What the DFL's use of Easy5G and RefCam could mean for events in...
10/07/2025
Save the Date: PGA TOUR Studios Welcomes SVG Remote Production Summit on Oct 14-...
10/07/2025
Cloud on the Road: How Remote-Production-Service Providers Are Adapting to a New...