 Ecological protection is managed and enforced by the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources.Through the "parcelero" (from the Spanish root for "parcel", or land lot) program, people who were living in the lands being incorporated into the reserve during the federal government land acquisitions of 1935 were allowed to stay in their places when forest protection went into effect.In January 1999, a bill in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives sought to increase the size of the protected area by unifying the Toro Negro, Guilarte, and Pueblo de Adjuntas State Forests.