October 19, 2023
BROOKS, Calif. (October 19, 2023) —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.