Outgoing President Joe Biden is expected to designate two new national monuments on California tribal land.
A 644,000-acre Chuckwalla National Monument located near Joshua Tree National Park is one of the expected moves, according to sources familiar with the development. The site would prohibit drilling, mining, and other activities. Another estimated 200,000 acres of land in Northern California will be set apart to establish the Sáttítla National Monument. The move would prohibit energy development in the area.
Brandy McDaniels, a member of the Pit River Tribe, said as per the Los Angeles Times, “It gives you new faith that the process is working and that people are listening to Indigenous voices. We’ve spent a lifetime fighting to protect this area, and it’s hard to put into words how important this is to us.
“For the Pit River people, it’s the actual place of our creation and is a very sacred place for us in the narrative of our peoples,” McDaniels said. “In addition to that, it is a very unique and spectacular biodiverse area that supports habitats, ecosystems and fisheries.”
Donald Medart Jr. of the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe Council said in April, “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. 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.”
U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) said last spring that “public lands are some of California’s greatest natural wonders, helping to preserve generations of cultural history, combat climate change, and provide crucial access to green spaces. The San Gabriel Mountains, Molok Luyuk, and the Chuckwalla Mountains desert landscape represent some of our state’s most treasured landscapes, and it’s past time we provide them full protection and official national monument designation.”
