LA’s Santa Monica Mountains Get a Formal Expansion: New 'Rim of the Valley' Unit Added to Protected Lands

The Rim of the Valley Corridor Preservation Act is essentially a boundary expansion for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA). Think of it like formally drawing a bigger line around a chunk of Southern California to permanently earmark it for conservation and recreation. Specifically, this bill adds a new area, the “Rim of the Valley Unit,” into the existing National Recreation Area. The boundaries are defined by two maps, one dated 2001 and the new one from April 14, 2023, and the bill mandates these maps be kept public and accessible at the National Park Service offices (Sec. 2).

What’s Now Officially Protected?

For anyone who uses the trails or enjoys the open space around Los Angeles, this is a big deal. When the Secretary of the Interior acquires any land or rights within this new Rim of the Valley Unit, that land immediately falls under the same management rules as the rest of the SMMNRA (Sec. 3). This means that land is officially dedicated to conservation and public enjoyment, protecting it from future development. It formalizes and streamlines the process of integrating these critical open spaces into the existing, well-established park system. It’s a win for hikers, cyclists, and anyone who appreciates having natural areas near a major metropolitan zone.

The Utility Clause: Keeping the Lights On (Carefully)

One of the most practical aspects of this bill addresses the elephant in the room: infrastructure. In a massive area like LA, utilities—power lines, water pipes, etc.—don't stop just because a park boundary shifts. The bill explicitly states that adding the Rim of the Valley Unit does not stop utility companies or water resource facilities from operating, maintaining, or modifying their existing setups (Sec. 4). This is crucial for avoiding service disruptions for millions of residents.

However, there’s a catch for the utility companies: any work they do inside this newly protected area must be conducted in a way that “reasonably tries to avoid or lessen the damage” to the natural resources there (Sec. 4). This provision sets up a balancing act. For a utility worker, this means they can still fix a broken water main, but they need to be much more careful about minimizing erosion or habitat damage than they might have been before. The challenge here is that the term “reasonably tries” is subjective. It’s good that they have to mitigate damage, but without specific metrics, compliance might look different depending on the operator.

The Fine Print on Boundary Changes

While the maps are set now, the bill gives the Secretary the power to make small boundary tweaks later on (Sec. 2). Before doing so, they only have to notify the relevant Congressional committees in writing. For the public, this means the initial boundary is mostly set, but if a small parcel needs to be adjusted—say, to clean up a confusing property line—it can be done relatively quickly. However, relying only on written notification to Congress, rather than a full public rulemaking process, means that these minor adjustments could happen without much public visibility. While the changes are meant to be small, it’s a detail worth tracking to ensure no valuable public land gets inadvertently swapped out of the protected area.