Monumental Questions - What does it mean to "expand Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument"?

Nate Lillge • April 25, 2023

Molok Luyuk with Snow Mountain in background (Photo by Marc Hoshovsky)

Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument was established in 2015 by President Obama through a Presidential Proclamation. The Monument includes 330,780 acres of federally managed public lands, stretching over 100 miles from south of Lake Berryessa through Snow Mountain Wilderness in Mendocino National Forest. The US Forest Service (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversee the management of the Monument.


Only federally managed lands are included in the Monument. This means that any privately owned land (or State or County managed land) within the Monument boundaries is NOT included. However, these lands can be managed in the same manner as the surrounding federal land.


Tuleyome and our partners have been working with Congressmen Garamendi and Thompson as well as Senators Padilla and Feinstein to expand Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. The expansion would include the roughly 4,000 acres of BLM-managed lands along Molok Luyuk (what is currently called Walker Ridge) in Lake County. The ridge forms the boundary between Lake and Colusa Counties and is an important corridor for wildlife, has amazing, unique geology, and contains thousands of years of Native American history.


Expanding Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument to include Molok Luyuk would help preserve and protect this important ridge and surrounding area. Private landowners in the area would retain most/all of their landowners’ rights. Additionally, the protections created by the monument would ensure that the area around their property is managed in a way that will benefit future generations. If private lands are included within the boundaries of the Monument, they will remain in private ownership. By including these federally managed lands in the Monument (which already includes the neighboring federally managed lands), BLM will not need to produce additional management plans thereby reducing the amount of government resources needed to manage the area.


Tuleyome, our partners, and our legislative champions encourage the public to become involved in the expansion of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument (expandberryessa.org). Additionally, BLM and USFS are in the process of developing a management plan for the Monument and welcome public input for the management of our public lands.


Additional information more information:



-Nate Lillge (nlillge@tuleyome.org)


Tuleyome Adventures and Engagement Director


Certified California Naturalist

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