The San Gabriel Mountains
provides 35% of the clean drinking water which
millions of Southern California residents rely upon, and within the San
Gabriels is the
Angeles
National Forest (which has recently been designated a
National Monument) encompassing a number of watersheds and rivers,
including the
San Gabriel River.
During the past 120 years since the Angeles National Forest was created,
the population of Southern California has grown to over
22.6 million people, many of whom recreate in the mountains and, sadly,
many of whom bring a great deal of of trash, human waste, and other
pollutants in to the forest with them. Many of the over
3 million people (PDF) who visit
the mountains each year engage in illegal activities in the forest,
overwhelming the
U. S. Forest Service agencies
which are tasked with repairing and cleaning the forest.
Raising awareness among local citizens, politicians, and other policy-makers
about the threats that face the San Gabriel River is crucial, and the
Save The East Fork Association has been created to work with
stakeholders, local City, State, and Federal agencies to identify the core
difficulties facing the East Fork, and to work to reduce or eliminate illegal
activities taking place which adversely impact the watershed, including
activities which adversely impact the
Santa Ana Sucker and other creatures
which are on the threatened and the endangered lists.
Here you will find information on what the problems are, what proposed
solutions to such problems are, areas where progress has been made in solving
some of the problems, and how you may contact Save The East Fork
to offer ideas and solutions to the organization.
Also you might be interested in taking a look at the
San Gabriel Mountains Forever organization which has been on the ground
for years working to address some of the issues in the forest. That
organization has a much broader set of goals to address problems and
implement solutions whereas Save The East Fork focuses almost
entirely on the East Fork of the river.
Another great resource for learning about the East Fork is to check out the
West Fork
Conservancy which does extensive unpaid volunteer work cleaning up and
repairing parts of the East Fork.
Save The East Fork
The Save The East Fork Association updates this web site periodically and there is no guarantee that the information provided on this web site is accurate or up-to-date despite our efforts to check and verify the information and opinions expressed herein. If you find anything to be inaccurate on this web site, please email us. For our full disclaimer, please click here.