October 19, 2023
BROOKS, CA —Following the September 24, 2023 site visit by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, Tribal and community leaders, and Members of Congress to the area known as Molok Luyuk (“Condor Ridge” in the Patwin language), Senator Alex Padilla, Congressman John Garamendi, and Congressman Mike Thompson have sent a letter to reiterate their calls for President Joseph Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to expand the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument to include the entirety of the ridge. Lawmakers also urged Secretary Haaland to order the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to rename “Walker Ridge” to “Molok Luyuk.”
Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument was created in 2015, leaving most of Molok Luyuk out of the designation. Since then, the Expand Berryessa coalition–a group of tribes, environmental and conservation organizations—has been pushing to protect the entirety of Molok Luyuk by expanding the monument to include the remaining 13,753 acres of the ridge.
“We were honored to have our Nation’s leaders visit us on our ancestral lands,” said Tribal Chairman Anthony Roberts. “Molok Luyuk is traditionally important to the lifeways of the Patwin people, and we consider the protection and stewardship of this land to be part of our sacred responsibility. The expansion of the monument would provide a greater level of protection and additional federal resources for cooperative land management.”
The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation thanks its Congressional representatives and Secretary Haaland for their ongoing support efforts to help tribes steward and protect traditional lands.