Pinnacles National Monument might become national park

Pinnacles National Monument, a landscape of massive spires and sheer-walled canyons east of Salinas Valley, would become California's newest national park under legislation introduced in Congress recently. Pinnacles now gets about 165,000 visitors a year who are drawn by the condors, caves, challenging rock climbs and spectacular wildflowers. Elevating it to a national park "will draw even more visitors to this spectacular piece of California's natural and cultural heritage," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), author of the bill. Boxer's bill would also boost the area of officially designated wilderness in the monument from 16,000 acres to 19,000. The National Wilderness Preservation System is the nation's strongest form of public land protection...more