Rim of the Valley plan to add 191K acres to Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area ...
(WorldNews Environment)

The acting director of the National Park Service told Congress on Wednesday the agency will not support adding another 191,000 acres of “Rim of the Valley� park space to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area because the agency bleeds red ink and can’t afford taking on additional maintenance and staffing costs. Paul Daniel Smith, who took over as acting chief of the Park Service by order of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in mid-January, testified in a Senate committee that even though the long-sought addition of wild lands surrounding the San Fernando Valley to the already designated recreation area meets all the agency’s criteria, “the Department...