Raúl Grijalva: “The Piedras Blancas Light Station is one of only a handful of tall, seacoast lighthouses built on the West Coast. It is…”

“The Piedras Blancas Light Station is one of only a handful of tall, seacoast lighthouses built on the West Coast. It is located in San Luis Obispo County in Southern California. Completed in 1875, the lighthouse was manned by the Coast Guard until 1975, when it was automated. The Coast Guard transferred the lighthouse and the surrounding public land to the Bureau of Land Management in 2001. This area is not only historically significant, but it is also home to a population of gulls, cormorants and an elephant seal colony, numbering 10,000 animals. H.R. 276, sponsored by my committee colleague Representative Lois Capps, would establish the Piedras Blancas Historic Light Station Outstanding Natural Area to be managed by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the existing National Landscape Conservation System. This area would be managed by the BLM to conserve the significant historical and natural resources found there. Mr. Speaker, Representative Capps has worked tirelessly on behalf of this legislation, and we commend her for her efforts.”