Proposed Chuckwalla National Monument is a win for conservation and renewable energy

Friday, November 17, 2023

Mecca Hills in the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument; Source: Bob Wick/BLM

The proposed Chuckwalla National Monument encompasses a 660,000 acre landscape located south of Joshua Tree National Park and northeast of the Salton Sea in California. It includes vital habitat for threatened and endangered desert wildlife, including the desert tortoise, bighorn sheep, and chuckwalla lizard as well as being the proposed location for the reintroduction of Sonoran Pronghorn antelope, and also offers important outdoor recreation opportunities for nearby communities.

The proposal is the result of careful planning and outreach conversations that prioritized conservation and cultural preservation, while still allowing renewable energy generation in the areas most compatible with development. These areas were designated through the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP), a plan that balances conservation in the California desert with appropriate renewable energy development.

The proposed Chuckwalla National Monument rejects the idea that conservation and renewable energy development on public land are at odds and instead embraces the challenge of achieving what’s best for wildlife, people, and the planet through careful planning. Learn more about the proposed monument in the latest post on the Center for Western Priorities' Westwise blog.

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This region has been managed as a sacrifice zone for far too long... Now is the time for the Honoring Chaco Initiative to chart a new path forward for Navajo communities, phasing out extractive economies and centering protection of the land, air, water, and the sacred in Greater Chaco Landscape management.”

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Photo by Bill Hayden / NPS