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Last week, in a short news conference, the president released the 111-page initiative, an overhaul of federal conservation policy that calls for a new coalition with local governments and states, encouraging outdoor recreation for youth in line with Michelle Obama's anti-obesity movement, connecting wildlife corridors across the continent and encouraging sustainable practices on private land.

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An activist religious group has joined the effort to designate the San Gabriel Mountains as a national recreational area eligible for additional federal resources including law enforcement personnel, interpretive signs and hiking trails.

The group, Progressive Christians Uniting, is touting the proposal to congregants of dozens of San Gabriel Valley churches near the 650,000-acre range that constitutes about 70% of Los Angeles County's open space.