Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument

Background

The proclamation for the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument was signed on July 10, 2015, by President Obama. It dedicated about 330,000 acres of public land for inclusion in the monument boundary. About 197,000 acres of the monument are administered by the Forest Service, while the Bureau of Land Management administers the remaining 133,000 acres. The Forest Service manages the portion of the monument within the the National Forest System, while the BLM manages the remainder of the monument (see monument boundary map).

The proclamation directed the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to manage the monument pursuant to their respective applicable authorities, meaning that lands administered by the Mendocino National Forest are to be managed as part of the National Forest System, while lands administered by BLM shall be managed as a unit of its National Landscape Conservation System. 

The agencies have worked together to create a framework that allows each agency to adhere to its particular planning requirements, enables both agencies to support the other throughout the process, provides for ongoing use and management of the monument and strengthens public enjoyment and stewardship now and into the future. Forest Service policy requires the Mendocino National Forest to provide proper care and management of the "objects of interest" described in the presidential proclamation. 

What to expect in the management baseline

The Mendocino National Forest planning team evaluated the forest's land and resource management plan ("forest plan") and determined that the goals, standards and guidelines, management prescriptions and supplemental management area direction within the forest plan provide proper care and management of the objects to interest that are identified in the proclamation. Also included in the management baseline are the administrative changes to the existing land and resource management plan necessary to meet the intent of the proclamation, withdrawing monument lands within National Forest System lands from disposal, abolishing mineral entry and mineral and geothermal leasing, subject to valid existing rights.

Guide to the monument

In 2022 the BLM and Forest Service jointly published the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Stakeholder Guide. The document provides a consolidated source of information, including activities, resources, and opportunities that are available in the monument. The intent of the guide is to provide communities and organizations with an overview of current operations and to propose a shared direction for federal agency collaboration with stakeholder groups.