Colusa County Board of Supervisors sent their thanks last week to Congressman John Garamendi for not including the Walker Ridge area of Colusa County in his proposed legislation that would expand the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. The board, however, did object to changing the monument name to “Condor Ridge,” largely because that name does not appear on any official map or document.
“While we understand the cultural significance of the proposed name change, the county opposes renaming Walker Ridge to Condor Ridge, as we believe the name change could have significant impact on local law enforcement, OES, and fire response teams,” Chairman Merced Corona said in a letter.
Garamendi’s legislation, which he introduced in January, would expand the National Monument designated by President Obama in 2015 by nearly 4,000 acres to include an adjacent federally owned land parcel in Lake County known as the “Walker Ridge” tract. The current 330,780-acre National Monument covers Napa, Yolo, Solano, Lake, Colusa, Glenn and Mendocino counties.
The county has asked Garamendi that should amendments be proposed, legislation include Colusa County territory that he advocates for its non-inclusion.
Garamendi’s bill renames the entire ridgeline in Lake and Colusa counties from “Walker Ridge” to “Condor Ridge (“Molok Luyuk” in the Patwin language), to honor Native Americans, including the federally recognized Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation. ■