Biden to announce creation of 2 new national monuments to protect tribal lands
LOS ANGELES — President Joe Biden is establishing two new national monuments in California to honor Native American tribes, the White House confirmed Tuesday, as Biden aims to preserve at least 30% of America’s land and water by 2030 through his “America the Beautiful” initiative.
Proclamations to be signed Tuesday will create Chuckwalla National Monument in Southern California near Joshua Tree National Park and Sáttítla National Monument in Northern California. The declarations ban drilling, mining and other development on the 1,500-square-mile Chuckwalla property and about 500 square miles near the Oregon border in Northern California.
The new monuments It will protect clean water for communities, honor areas of cultural significance for tribal nations and indigenous peoples, and improve access to nature, the White House said.
Biden, who has two weeks left in office, will visit Los Angeles and the Eastern Coachella Valley on Tuesday after meeting Monday with the families of the victims of the New Year’s attack in New Orleans.
Biden announced on Monday that he will do so ban new offshore oil and gas drilling in most U.S. coastal waters, also in California and other West Coast states. The plan is intended to block possible attempts by the new Trump administration to expand offshore drilling.
The wave of activities is in line with the Democratic president’s ‘America the Beautiful’ initiative, launched in 2021, aimed at honoring tribal heritage, meeting federal objectives to conserve 30% of public lands and waters by 2030 and address climate change.
The Pit River Tribe has been working to get the federal government to designate Sáttítla National Monument. The area is a spiritual center for the Pit River and Modoc tribes and includes montane forests and meadows that are home to rare flowers and wildlife.
A number of Native American tribes and environmental groups began pushing Biden in early 2023 to designate Chuckwalla National Monument, named for the large desert lizard. The monument would protect public lands south of Joshua Tree National Park, spanning the Coachella Valley region westward to near the Colorado River.
Supporters say the monument will protect a tribal cultural landscape, ensure access to nature for local residents and preserve military historic sites.
“The designation of California’s Chuckwalla and Sáttítla National Monuments marks a historic step toward protecting lands with profound cultural, environmental and historical significance to all Americans,” said Carrie Besnette Hauser, president and CEO of the non- profit organization Trust for Public Land.
The new monuments “honor the sustainable stewardship of tribal nations and the tireless efforts of local communities and conservation advocates who have fought to protect these irreplaceable landscapes for future generations,” Hauser said.
National monuments like Chuckwalla and Sáttítla play a key role in addressing historical injustice and ensuring a more inclusive telling of American history, she said.
The Chuckwalla Monument aims to honor tribal sovereignty by including local tribes as co-stewards, following in the footsteps of a recent wave of monuments such as Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, which guided coherently with five tribal nations.
“The protection of Chuckwalla National Monument brings an overwhelming sense of peace and joy to the Quechan people,” the Fort Yuma Quechan Tribe said in a statement. “Reuniting tribes as stewards of this landscape is just the beginning of much-needed healing and restoration, and we are eager to fully rebuild our relationship with this place.”
In May, the Biden administration two national monuments expanded in California – the San Gabriel Mountains in the south and Berryessa Snow Mountain in the north. In October, Biden designated as the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary along the coast of central California, which will include input from local Chumash tribes on how the area is conserved.
Last year, the Yurok tribe in Northern California also became the first indigenous people to manage tribal lands with the National Park Service under a historic memorandum of understanding signed by the tribe, Redwood National and State Parks and the nonprofit Save the Redwoods League, which transfers the land to the tribe.
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Daly reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jaimie Ding in Los Angeles and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.