How does a stream become a Wild & Scenic candidate?
The candidate streams in the San Gabriel Mountains were all determined eligible for Wild & Scenic protection by the Forest Service in the 2005 forest plan udpates. Congress may protect rivers outright through legislation or may direct federal agencies that manage public lands to conduct studies and make recommendations concerning designation. The Forest Service, BLM, and other federal agencies that manage public lands are also required to identify, study, and recommend candidate Wild & Scenic Rivers in the land and resource planning process. To be eligible, a candidate river must be free flowing and possess one or more outstanding values. Once a river is determined eligible, the agency provides interim protection of the river’s free flowing character and outstanding values until Congress acts in response to the agency study.
