Effort underway to link forests, adjacent cities
Some argue political districts should be drawn to unite rural, urban voices
With political redistricting underway, there’s a push to link the western part of the San Bernardino National Forest to adjacent Foothill communities that are forced to deal with overflowing forest issues such as trail access, water management, wildfires, traffic and vandalism.
But making a formal connection in Congress between the communities of Upland and Rancho Cucamonga with the vast federal forest lands north of their borders is not as easy as tying a knot.
Because the 2020 California Citizens Redistricting Commission must account for voting rights of minority communities, keeping districts equal in population and other factors, requiring one member of Congress to represent the adjacent forest along with nearby Foothill cities doesn’t always match up.
In fact, as it stands today, the congressional districts around the west valley cities are a tangled mishmash, often leaving the mountains — prominent federal recreational lands used by millions — to float on their own.
For example, the San Gabriel Mountains in the San Bernardino National Forest are in the 8th Congressional District, a huge district that stretches up to Death Valley and includes Hesperia and Barstow but not Upland and Rancho Cucamonga.
Likewise, Upland, a city of 80,000, is divided between the 27th and the 31st congressional districts, represented by Judy Chu, DPasadena, and Pete Aguilar, D-Redlands, respectively. Rancho Cucamonga, population 176,379, also is in Aguilar’s district. But if either city wants to talk forest issues, they must go to Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Big Bear, in the 8th District.
Upland City Councilwoman Janice Elliott sees this as a disconnect in representation for the immediate region. Acting as a private citizen, she wrote a letter to the 2020 California Citizens Redistricting Commission asking that Upland and Rancho Cucamonga be in the same congressional district as the San Gabriels that lie within parts of the Angeles and San Bernardino national forests.
“These Foothill communities south of the San Gabriel Mountains share many common traits and a
very important relationship to our adjacent San Gabriel Mountains. This makes our cities ‘communities of interest,’ which should be in the same congressional district as the San Bernardino Mountains so we have a member of Congress who represents our interest in how the forest is managed and protected,” Elliott wrote.
Upland will hold a public hearing on congressional district boundaries at 7:20 p.m. Monday in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 460 N. Euclid Ave.
Elliott, who sits on the West End Consolidated Water Co. board that pumps groundwater in the Foothills, says the runoff from the forest could affect water quality. Also, Upland owns 74% of the San Antonio Water Co. and has a vested interest in mountain water runoff, water quality and quantity.
In Cucamonga Canyon, Elliott was part of a Sierra Club cleanup in which old cars were pulled out of the creek.
“The trash does affect the water. All of the oil and fuel is dumped into Cucamonga Creek,” she said in an interview.
She would prefer if the boundary for Aguilar’s 31st District be redrawn to take in nearby forest land. She said Upland and Rancho Cucamonga already have a relationship with Aguilar since he represents residents in both.
“Whoever is in that office, I would like them to also represent that part of the mountains,” she said.
Cucamonga Canyon has been closed by the U.S. Forest Service for nearly 10 years due to concerns of fires and, since it is not a loop, of getting people out of the canyon in case of a wildfire. Also, when it was open in 2014, thousands of visitors jammed the road and caused parking hazards.
Many see access to this canyon as just as much a city issue as a U.S. Forest Service issue. Having a congressional representative who knows the cities and that part of the forest could solve access problems, she said.
John Monsen is a Sierra Club member hired as a consultant by the nonprofit Nature For All to advocate for redrawing congressional boundaries in both the Angeles and San Bernardino national forests to include nearby cities. He called the formation of the 8th District in 2011 “a bad mistake.”
“Congressional District 8 was drawn crazy,” Monsen said. “The nearest city of any size is Hesperia. They have zero interest in how (the forest) is managed. People who have an interest in how it is managed are not in the district.”
Another example of odd line-drawing is Mt. Baldy Village, which is split between two congressional districts. Two-thirds of the residents are in the 8th District and one-third is in the 27th District. Upland is a short drive from Mt. Baldy.
Upland Mayor Bill Velto said he will not tell Rancho Cucamonga, or Mt. Baldy Village who should represent them in Congress. “I would leave it up to them,” he said.
Also, he said, having two or three members of Congress to turn to may be a benefit. He said Obernolte knows about forest lands because he lives in Big Bear, a mountain community in the San Bernardino National Forest. In his statement earlier this week about the U.S. Forest Service closing forests in the state to prevent fires, Obernolte blamed the “poor forest management practices that have left more than 80 million acres of national forests overgrown, fire prone, and in dire need of active management.”
Monsen said congressional districts that match forest with Foothill cities are apt, because the forest is federal land.
“You can’t go to your mayor or state senator,” Monsen said. “They have no authority.”
By drawing the districts to couple forest lands to adjacent cities, people living nearby can talk to their representative, leading to greater local influence over everyday forest issues, he said.
“The more major cities that have clout over the forest, the better,” Monsen added.
New congressional district lines will be drawn in September and October, according to Monsen. Maps will be out for review in late October.