In October 2000, Congress established the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument.
This year, the Friends of the Desert Mountains (FODM) and their partners in the conservation of the national monument—including the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians—are planning a series of celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary.
However, those celebrations were temporarily jeopardized in early August, when the Rosa Fire broke out and burned a portion of the national monument. As of this writing, the cause of the fire is undetermined…