(BCN) – Hundreds of residents and community leaders joined federal officials Saturday to dedicate a new national monument that extends to the Bay Area, officials with the U.S. Department of the Interior said.
The Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument consists of 331,000 acres of public land extending from Berryessa Peak in Yolo County to land in Napa, Solano, Lake, Colusa, Glenn and Mendocino counties.
The dedication was held at Cowboy Camp, a recreation area for wildlife enthusiasts, hikers, equestrians and mountain bikers, in Williams, federal officials said.
The monument is one of the most biologically diverse areas in California and includes threatened and endangered plant and wildlife species such as northern spotted owls, fisher and marten.
Northern California steelhead and California Coastal Chinook salmon spawn in the monument’s waterways, according to federal officials.
President Obama designated the area as a monument on July 10, 2015.