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President Obama on Friday officially set aside 346,000 acres of the San Gabriel Mountains as a national monument, a move to link more communities east of Los Angeles with wild places in their own backyards.

"This is an issue of social justice, because it's not enough to have this awesome natural wonder within your sight you have to be able to access it," Obama said at a ceremony attended by more than 150 people at Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas.

"Right now, campgrounds are crowded, parking lots are tight, and there haven't been enough resources to manage and maintain this area the way it deserves," he said. "So designating the San Gabriel Mountains as a national monument is just the first step toward a broader effort to change that."

Agencies, nonprofits and local communities now must negotiate a management plan and funding strategies for the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, which officials expect to take three years to complete.

The monument, formed by re-designating about half of the Angeles National Forest, will be managed by the U.S. Forest Service. It comes with no new government money, although advocates hope funds will come from public and private donations and from adjusting the Forest Service budget.

The National Forest Foundation, a nonprofit funding arm of the Forest Service, said Friday it has established a $3-million fund to speed high-priority restoration projects in the monument.

Obama compared the history of the range to "the story of America. It's the story of communities exploring the great West - of Native Americans and Spanish missionaries, of colonialists and rancheros, of merchants and landowners. It's the story of prospectors in search of gold, of settlers in search of a new life."

"It's a story that continues today, with one of our nation's most vibrant, diverse communities in the backyard of the second-biggest city in the country," he said.

"We heard from the community that for a lot of urban families, this is their only big, outdoor space," Obama added. "And too many children in L.A. County, especially children of color, don't have access to parks where they can run free and breathe fresh air, experience nature and learn about their own environment."

The monument embraces alpine peaks and streams that are home to rare and endangered species including the California condor, Nelson's bighorn sheep and mountain yellow-legged frogs. Its historic treasures include Native American rock art and the Mt. Wilson Observatory, where Edwin Hubble discovered galaxies beyond the Milky Way.

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Obama officially designates San Gabriel Mountains a national monument