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President Joe Biden will designate two new national monuments in California today using his authority under the Antiquities Act: Chuckwalla National Monument and Sáttítla Highlands National Monument. Together these monuments will add protections for over 800,000 acres of culturally and ecologically significant public land.
“With these proclamations, President Biden has secured his legacy as one of America’s great conservation presidents. It’s not enough to protect iconic landmarks and features—we must preserve the linkages between ecosystems and landscapes that support wildlife, clean air, and water that communities depend on," said Center for Western Priorities Executive Director Jennifer Rokala.
Named for the native chuckwalla lizard, Chuckwalla National Monument in southern California protects over 620,000 acres of fragile desert ecosystem just south of Joshua Tree National Park. Sáttítla Highlands National Monument protects over 220,000 acres of public land in Northern California, including highland lakes that store snowmelt and provide drinking water for millions of Californians.
Both monuments were spearheaded by Indigenous people. Seven Tribes in Southern California supported the designation of Chuckwalla, while the Pit River Nation called for the designation of Sáttítla.
With these monument designations, President Biden has protected more federal land and waters than any other president, about 674 million acres, and made significant progress toward the national goal of protecting 30 percent of America’s lands and waters by 2030.
The establishment of Chuckwalla National Monument also completes the largest corridor of protected lands in the continental United States, according to the White House, which covers nearly 18 million acres stretching approximately 600 miles. This new Moab to Mojave Conservation Corridor protects wildlife habitat and a wide range of natural and cultural resources along the Colorado River, across the Colorado Plateau, and into the deserts of California.
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The protection of the Chuckwalla National Monument brings the Quechan people an overwhelming sense of peace and joy... Tribes being reunited as stewards of this landscape is only the beginning of much-needed healing and restoration, and we are eager to fully rebuild our relationship to this place.”
