President Joe Biden signed designations at the White House on Tuesday, establishing two new national monuments in California.
The signing ceremony for Chuckwalla National Monument in Southern California and Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in Northern California was set to take place last week in California’s Coachella Valley. However, the subsequent fires still ravaging the Los Angeles region forced the event to be canceled and relocated.
The national monuments are designed to honor Native American tribes and ban mining and energy projects within the territories.Secretary Deb Haaland, elected officials, and Native American tribe members joined Biden at the signing ceremony.
At the event, Biden evoked the environmental legacy of Theodore Roosevelt and noted that America’s natural wonders are the heart and soul of the nation.
“Over the last four years, we’ve delivered with your help, putting America on track to meet that bold goal, restoring and creating new national monuments, conserving hundreds of millions of acres of lands and waters all across America,” Biden said at the ceremony.
The president used his authority under the Antiquities Act to create the two new national monuments.
The Chuckwalla National Monument, located near Joshua Tree National Park, was established across 624,000 acres within the Moab to Mojave Conservation Corridor, which runs along the Colorado River.
“Today’s action will also protect and preserve mountain ranges and rugged canyons, desert floors and deep valleys, sandy slopes, stunning peaks,” Biden said. “Tucked away in this desert landscape are beautiful springs and over 50 rare plants and animals. Palm trees, cacti, lavender flowers, lizards and mountain lions, bats, bighorn sheep, owls,” he said. “I mean, this is incredible what’s there.”
The designation also preserves lands where native peoples’ left behind ancient ceramics, tools, rock art, and sacred ceremonial sites.
The second national monument Biden designated, the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument, in Northern California, covers 240,000 acres and includes lava fields and craters.
“The center of these highlands, a dormant volcano, cradles a beautiful lake inside the summit,” he said.
Biden noted that in the 1960s, the lava formations in this area were used by NASA to train astronauts on Apollo missions on how to observe and take samples from the moon.“And, ever since, this landscape supports California’s outdoor recreation economy, from biking, hunting, fishing, canoeing and so much more,” he said, noting the area is also sacred to many Native Americans.
