Stunning stretches of California desert and woodlands to become America’s newest national monuments

About 848,000 acres of land in southern and northern California have become the country’s newest national monuments.

President Joe Biden has brought a landmass larger than the entire state of Rhode Island under federal protection by using his authority under the 1906 Antiquities Act.

Biden will officially designate the first of the two, Chuckwalla National Monument, as he travels to the eastern part of the Coachella Valley on Tuesday.

That monument — located just south of Joshua Tree National Park and stretching nearly to the Colorado River — will protect culturally important land for at least five Native American tribes in the area, according to a statement from the White House.

The 624,000 acres of land within the Chuckwalla Monument are home to attractions such as Alligator Rock and the Painted Canyon, a beautiful rock formation near the desert town of Mecca that has become a popular hiking trail.

This move will also protect wildlife and ensure access to clean water for more than 40 million people who rely on the Colorado River. Residents of the Coachella Valley can also take advantage of “exceptional outdoor recreation opportunities,” the White House said.

Another 224,000 acres of forest near the Oregon border will be designated as the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument.

Like its southern counterpart, the monument encompasses the ancestral homelands of many Native American tribes.

The Painted Canyon is located directly on the San Andreas Fault

The area is home to the dormant Medicine Lake Volcano, which has the largest system of underground lava tubes in North America. These tubes or caves were once filled with molten lava, but can now be safely visited by tourists as the volcano is no longer active.

The land beneath both monuments is also protected from mining and oil drilling.

The White House announced the move on Monday, officially making Biden the most environmentally conscious president in American history.

Over the course of one term, Biden has protected 674 million acres of land and water. He surpassed Barack Obama and Teddy Roosevelt, who protected 230 million acres of land.

A diverse group of supporters — including elected officials, tribal leaders and clean energy activists — have been pushing Biden for years to designate the Chuckwalla Monument.

One of the most prominent supporters was Alex Padilla, the incumbent senator from California who replaced Kamala Harris when she became vice president.

Padilla and fellow California Senator Laphonza Butler sponsored Representative Raul Ruiz’s bill proposing the creation of the monument.

The Medicine Lake Volcanic Depression seen from the south rim. The dormant volcano is a popular tourist destination in the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in Northern California

One of the lava tubes beneath the surface of the Medicine Lake area that once contained molten lava

“After years of negotiations and bringing diverse communities together, this achievement was made possible through the leadership and partnership of many organizations, tribes and community leaders,” Ruiz said in a statement.

‘Chuckwalla National Monument will pave the way for the future of conservation and renewable energy.’

The bill was slightly more ambitious than Biden’s order and called for the protection of some 661,000 acres and an expansion of Joshua Tree National Park.

Nevertheless, Padilla celebrated the long-fought victory.

“This historic announcement accelerates our state’s critical efforts to combat the climate crisis, protect our iconic wildlife, preserve sacred tribal lands and promote clean energy while expanding equitable access to nature for millions of Californians,” he said in a statement.

Biden’s latest appointment comes days after he banned all future oil and natural gas drilling in most U.S. coastal waters.

His order would not affect large parts of the Gulf of Mexico, where most U.S. offshore drilling takes place, but would protect coastlines along California, Florida and other states from future drilling.

On Monday, President-elect Donald Trump vowed to reverse the ban, calling it “ridiculous” during an appearance on conservative host Hugh Hewitt’s show.

President Joe Biden’s national monuments could be on the chopping block if Trump takes office in less than two weeks

Trump has a mixed record on land conservation: He once reduced the size of federal lands early in his term but later signed a bill creating five new national monuments.

On Tuesday, Trump renewed that pledge during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, while also complaining about how the current environmental review process is holding back development.

It is unclear how Trump will deal with the fifteen national monuments that Biden has created, expanded and restored.

In his first year as president, Trump reduced the Bear Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in southern Utah by 62 percent of their original landmass.

Biden reinstated them in October 2021, just under ten months after taking office.

In 2019, Trump signed a bill that created five new national monuments and diverted 370,000 acres of land in Montana and Washington state from mineral development.