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According to Mark Butler, former superintendent of Joshua Tree National Park and 38-year career employee of the National Park Service, the California desert needs increased protections for vulnerable public lands.
The proposed Chuckwalla National Monument would protect approximately 660,000 acres of federal public lands south of Joshua Tree, and would also protect lands adjacent to the national park. If designated, the monument would safeguard the biodiverse Colorado Desert, which is an area of the Sonoran Desert in California that includes species like the desert tortoise, desert bighorn sheep, and chuckwalla lizard.
Representative Raul Ruiz has introduced legislation that would establish Chuckwalla National Monument and expand the national park. Now, he—along with a diverse coalition of local, regional, and national organizations—is calling on President Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate the national monument.
According to Butler, there has never been a better time to designate Chuckwalla National Monument. New national monuments are widely supported by voters, and if President Biden uses executive action to designate Chuckwalla National Monument, he will have protected more land than any other first-term president in modern American history.
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At a time when conserving nature and meeting renewable energy goals are critical, a Chuckwalla National Monument would accomplish both.”
