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Nestled among the tall conifers of Northeastern California lies the water rich and culturally significant landscape known by the Pit River Nation as Sáttítla, comprising the upper reaches of the Medicine Lake Highlands. The Pit River Nation is leading the effort to designate over 200,000 acres of U.S. Forest Service land as Sáttítla National Monument.
In a new blog post as part of the Road to 30: Postcards campaign, the Center for Western Priorities spotlights two members of the Pit River Nation who are working diligently to protect the area from industrial development. For thousands of years, the Pit River, Modoc, and surrounding Tribes have relied on Sáttítla’s dense forests and clean water for food, spiritual connection, and resources to sustain them.
“It’s the place of our creation narrative of our people,” said Brandy McDaniels, the Tribe's lead in the national monument campaign. “We’ve used this place since time immemorial, since the beginning of time, since the first twinkling of light.”
In addition to its spiritual and cultural value, Sáttítla boasts some of the most unique geology and hydrology in the country. The area sits on Medicine Lake Volcano, the largest volcano in the Cascade Range. Because of the region's extreme snowfall during the winter months, Sáttítla stores more water underneath its surface than California's 200 largest surface reservoirs combined, and helps provide water for millions of Californians.
Not only would designating Sáttítla as a national monument honor the Pit River Nation and protect essential water resources, it would also demonstrate the Biden administration's commitment to Tribally-led conservation initiatives. Moreover, it would award President Joe Biden the achievement of protecting more public land using the Antiquities Act than any other first-term president in recent history.
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The Rio Grande was our playground. Once we got our chores done, then we would get out there and play, a lot of the time pretty much all day long.”
