By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-08 15:19:45 | Updated at 2025-01-09 07:23:31
16 hours ago
Roughly 848,000 acres of land in southern and northern California have become the country's latest national monuments.
President Joe Biden has brought a land mass bigger 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, the Chuckwalla National Monument, while on his trip Tuesday to the eastern portion of the Coachella Valley.
That monument - located just south of Joshua Tree National Park and stretching almost as far as the Colorado River - will protect culturally significant 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 in the Chuckwalla Monument is home to landmarks such as Alligator Rock and the Painted Canyon, a stunning rock formation near the desert town of Mecca that's become a popular hiking trail.
The move will also safeguard wildlife and ensure clean water access 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,' according to the White House.
Another 224,000 acres of woodlands near the Oregon border will be designated the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument.
Like its southern counterpart, the monument encompasses the ancestral homelands of many Native American tribes.
The Painted Canyon is one of the crown jewels of the newly created Chuckwalla National Monument
The Painted Canyon is located directly on the San Andreas fault line
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 These tubes or caves were once filled with molten lava but can now be visited safely by tourists since the volcano is no longer active.
The land under both monuments is also protected from mining and oil drilling.
The White House announced the action on Monday, officially making Biden the most conservationist president in American history.
Over the course of a single 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 urging Biden for years to designate the Chuckwalla Monument.
One of the most prominent supporters was Alex Padilla, the sitting California senator who replaced Kamala Harris when she became vice president.
Padilla and fellow California Sen. Laphonza Butler sponsored Rep. Raul Ruiz's bill that proposed the monument's creation.
The Medicine Lake Volcano depression viewed from the south rim. The dormant volcano is a popular tourist destination within the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in northern California
One of the lava tubes beneath the surface of the Medicine Lake area that once held molten lava
'After years of negotiation and bringing several 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, calling for the protection of some 661,000 acres and an expansion of Joshua Tree National Park.
Nonetheless, Padilla celebrated the long-fought win.
'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,' he said in a statement.
Biden's latest designation comes days after he banned all future oil and natural gas drilling in most US coastal waters.
His order would not affect large swaths of the Gulf of Mexico, where most U.S. offshore drilling occurs, but it 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 when Trump gets into office in less than two weeks
Trump has a mixed record on land conservation, once reducing the size of federal lands at the beginning of his term but later signing a bill that create five new national monuments
On Tuesday, during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Trump renewed this promise while also lamenting how the current environmental review process inhibits development.
It's unclear how Trump will handle the 15 national monuments Biden has created, expanded and restored.
In his first year in office, Trump reduced the Bear Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in southern Utah by 62 percent of their original land mass.
Biden restored them in October 2021, a little less than 10 months after he took office.
In 2019, Trump signed a bill that created five new national monuments and withdrew 370,000 acres of land in Montana and Washington state from mineral development.
