Tribes, Green Groups Applaud Biden's Creation of New National Monuments

U.S. President Joe Biden is set to sign proclamations Tuesday establishing two new national monuments in California, a move the White House said will protect the environment and honor Indigenous peoples in a state where they suffered one of the worst genocides in the nation's history.

Biden's creation of the Chuckwalla National Monument in the Colorado Desert and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in the Cascade Range "will protect 848,000 acres of lands in California of scientific, cultural, ecological, and historical importance," the White House said in a statement. The national monument designations—which were authorized under the Antiquities Act—mean new drilling, mining, and other development will be banned on the protected lands.

"In addition to setting the high-water mark for most lands and waters conserved in a presidential administration, establishing the Chuckwalla National Monument in southern California is President Biden's capstone action to create the largest corridor of protected lands in the continental United States, covering nearly 18 million acres stretching approximately 600 miles," the White House said.

"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," Biden's office added. "It is a vitally important cultural and spiritual landscape that has been inhabited and traveled by tribal nations and Indigenous peoples since time immemorial."

The Chuckwalla National Monument spans over 624,000 acres in southern California near Joshua Tree National Park and includes the ancestral homelands of the Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, Mojave, Quechan, Serrano, and other Indigenous peoples.

The Sáttítla Highlands National Monument covers more than 224,000 acres in northern California on the ancestral lands of the Karuk, Klamath, Modoc, Pit River, Shasta, Siletz, Wintu, and Yana.

U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who is a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, said in a statement Tuesday that "President Biden's action today will protect important spiritual and cultural values tied to the land and wildlife. I am so grateful that future generations will have the opportunity to experience what makes this area so unique."

Biden's designation follows calls from Indigenous tribes and green groups, and legislation introduced last April by U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), then-Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), and Congressman Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) to create the monuments.

"This historic announcement accelerates our state's crucial efforts to fight the climate crisis, protect our iconic wildlife, preserve sacred tribal sites, and promote clean energy while expanding equitable access to nature for millions of Californians," Padilla said in response to the president's move.

"This designation reflects years of tireless work from tribal leaders to protect these sacred desert landscapes," he added. "President Biden has joined California leaders in championing our treasured natural wonders, and I applaud him for further cementing his strong public lands legacy."

The Tribal Council of the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe said: "The protection of the Chuckwalla National Monument brings the Quechan people an overwhelming sense of peace and joy. This national monument designation cements into history our solidarity and collective vision for our peoples."

"The essence of who we are lies in the landscapes of Chuckwalla and Avi Kwa Ame," the council added. "Every trail, every living being, and every story in these places is connected to a rich history and heritage that runs in our DNA. That is why we look forward to the day when we can celebrate adding the proposed Kw'tsán National Monument for protection as well."

Sierra Club executive director Ben Jealous said in a statement: "Our public lands tell the history of America. They must be protected for us to learn from, and to be enjoyed and explored, for this generation and those to come. Throughout his time in office, President Biden has not only recognized that, he has acted with urgency."

Jealous continued:

From the ecologically rich Chuckwalla deserts in the south to the primordial network of Sáttítla aquifers in the north to the fragile habitats and ecosystems of the Southwest, communities and wildlife will continue to benefit from the clean water, protected landscape, and more equitable access to nature these monuments preserve.

For years, tribes and Indigenous voices have called for these landscapes to be protected. As he has throughout his presidency, President Biden answered those calls. Each new national monument adds a chapter to the story our public lands tell. We must continue the work to expand that story, protect the lands and waters that make this country special, and preserve the historical, cultural, and spiritual connections the original stewards of these landscapes continue to have with these places.

Trust for Public Land CEO Carrie Besnette Hauser noted that "national monuments like Chuckwalla and Sáttítla play a vital role in addressing historical injustices and ensuring a fuller, more inclusive telling of America's story. They stand alongside recent landmark designations—such as the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument and Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon—as reflections of our nation's diverse heritage and shared values."

California's Indigenous peoples suffered one of the worst genocides in North America. The state's Native American population plummeted from around 150,000 in 1848—the year gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill—to roughly 16,000 at the turn of the 20th century. The second half of the 19th century was a period of state-sponsored genocidal extermination, enslavement, and dispossession of California's more than 100 Indigenous tribes.

The national monuments designation comes a day after Biden permanently banned offshore oil drilling across 625 million acres of U.S. coastal territory.

Biden's national monument expansion stands in stark contrast with Republican President-elect Donald Trump's record during his first administration, which saw a major contraction of national monuments in service of opening public lands to mining, fossil fuel extraction, and other environmentally and culturally destructive intrusions.

"During his first term, Trump made his hostility toward public lands clear as he reduced national monuments and rolled back regulations on fossil fuel extraction," High Country News contributing editor Jonathan Thompson recently wrote. "This time, he promises a repeat performance, backed by a GOP-dominated Congress, a conservative-leaning Supreme Court, and an army of professional ideologues who have been eagerly preparing for this moment for the last four years."