Chuckwalla Nat'l Monument: Presidential Recognition After Fire Delays

JOSHUA TREE, CA — President Joe Biden is set to announce the creation of a national monument south of Joshua Tree National Park Tuesday.

The Chuckwalla National Monument in Southern California will create the largest corridor of protected lands in the continental United States, covering nearly 18 million acres stretching approximately 600 miles.

White House officials were calling it the capstone environmental achievement in Biden's administration.

Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrived in Los Angeles on Jan. 7 for a planned announcement in Riverside County the following day, but the wildfires and powerful Santa Ana winds that erupted in Los Angeles County forced the event to be canceled.

Biden was scheduled to give remarks on his administration's conservation legacy at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday as he makes the designation official. According to the White House, Biden ranks first among all presidents in total area of land and water protection.

"The new monument will enhance the connectivity of wildlife habitat and safeguard clean water for more than 40 million people by protecting the Colorado River region, while providing exceptional outdoor recreation opportunities for historically underserved communities in the Coachella Valley," the White House stated in news release.

The new Moab to Mojave Conservation Corridor is designated to protect wildlife habitats and a wide range of natural and cultural resources along the Colorado River, across the Colorado Plateau, and into the deserts of California.

The corridor stretches from Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southwestern Utah through Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni -- Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in Arizona and Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada, both established by Biden in 2023. It extends to the desert and mountain regions of southwest California in the Coachella Valley and the Chuckwalla National Monument.

Biden's proclamation will establish a Chuckwalla National Monument south of Joshua Tree National Park, making drilling, mining and other energy- and industrial-related activity illegal in the area. The Los Angeles Times reported that Biden will also make a similar proclamation for land surrounding the Sáttítla National Monument in Northern California.

Having previously advocated in Washington, D.C., for Biden to issue such a designation, Southern California tribal leaders spoke in October about their desire to protect the homelands of the Iviatim, Nüwü, Pipa Aha Macav, Kwatsáan and Maara'yam peoples, also known as the Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, Mohave (CRIT Mohave), Quechan and Serrano nations.

"Since time immemorial, we have called the lands in the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument home," said Secretary Altrena Santillanes of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians. "These lands contain thousands of cultural places and objects of vital importance to the history and identity of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians."

The tribal leaders proposed a monument that would encompass approximately 627,000 acres of public lands, as well as protect approximately 17,000 additional acres in the Eagle Mountains.

Advocates said it would also "protect important heritage values tied to the land, such as multi-use trail systems established by Indigenous peoples and sacred sites," in addition to further recognizing tribal sovereignty and allow new ways for tribes to co-steward their homelands with federal agencies.

They said added protections for public lands would increase equitability in accessing the natural parts of the eastern Coachella Valley and surrounding areas, such as Mecca's Painted Canyon trail and the Bradshaw Trail in southeastern Riverside County.

As outlined, the potential monument holds spiritual significance and contains natural resources sustaining multiple Indigenous peoples.

The organization Protect Chuckwalla cited the proposal as complementary to the developmental Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan. Monument boundaries were drawn not to interfere with areas the DRECP focused on as "suitable for renewable energy development," with the DRECP in turn identifying parts of the lands in the eastern Coachella Valley as necessary for biological conservation.

"As the original stewards of these lands we have been tasked with preserving the cultural, natural, and spiritual values imparted by our ancestors," said David Harper of the Mojave Elders for the Colorado River Indian Tribes. "Therefore, caring for these lands is a sacred duty and honor."

Last year, at least two dozen members of the California congressional delegation, including Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Indio, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and former U.S. Sen. Alex Laphonza Butler, called for the issuance of a Presidential Proclamation under the 1906 Antiquities Act to formally approve the national monument.

The idea also had support from tribal leaders and representatives, at least eight city governments in the Coachella Valley and more than 225 local businesses and establishments.

"For the Quechan people, a national monument designation status for the land means preserving the lifeways, culture, stories and teachings that connect us to our past, present and future," said Donald Medart Jr. of the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe Council.

"We're calling on President Biden to help us continue to share the beauty of these places that our ancestors entrusted us to steward by indefinitely protecting them."

More information about the campaign to establish Chuckwalla National Monument can be found at protectchuckwalla.org.