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SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management will be hosting four Sand to Snow National Monument collaborative workshops in the month of July.

The meetings will be held:

The workshops will provide an opportunity for information sharing between the public, U.S. Forest Service and BLM about the Sand to Snow National Monument. 

"We are hosting these workshops to encourage open dialog," said Rebecca Wong, interim monument manager. "Our job is to care for the land and serve the public."

These workshops will be the first of many public outreach events. Participants will have an opportunity to discuss what they value most within Sand to Snow National Monument for the agencies to consider as the monument planning process begins.

This 154,000-acre monument extends from BLM-managed lands on the Sonoran desert floor to an elevation of 11,500 feet in the San Gorgonio Wilderness of San Bernardino National Forest. President Barrack Obama established Sand to Snow National Monument on February 12, 2016.

The mission of the U.S. Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the nation's forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world. Public lands the U.S. Forest Service manages contribute more than $13 billion to the economy each year through visitor spending alone. Those same lands provide 20 percent of the nation's clean water supply, a value estimated at $7.2 billion per year. The agency has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 80 percent of the 850 million forested acres within the United States, of which 100 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live. Learn more at http://www.fs.usda.gov/sbnf.

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's mission is to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. In Fiscal Year 2015, the BLM generated $4.1 billion in receipts from activities occurring on public lands.