(Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday will create two new national monuments in California, solidifying his legacy as the U.S. leader who has conserved more lands and waters than any of his predecessors.
The designation of the Chuckwalla National Monument in the southern California desert and the Sattitla Highlands National Monument near the state’s northern border comes a day after Biden protected nearly every U.S. coastline from offshore oil and gas development.
The moves are aligned with his goal of conserving at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.
Under federal law, presidents have the authority to create or alter national monuments in recognition of a site’s cultural, historical or scientific importance, but a designation can be rescinded by a future president.
In 2021, Biden restored the boundaries of three national monuments that had been reduced in size by President-elect Donald Trump during his first term in the White House, following their original designations as monuments by former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
By contrast, national parks are created by acts of Congress, largely to protect outstanding scenic features or natural phenomena, giving them a much higher level of protection.
According to a White House statement, the Chuckwalla National Monument preserves more than 624,000 acres just south of Joshua Tree National Park. The area holds cultural and historical significance for tribes including the Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, Mojave, Quechan and Serrano. The monument will protect habitats for species including the desert tortoise, bighorn sheep and the Chuckwalla lizard, for which it is named, and will provide outdoor recreation opportunities for nearby poor communities.
The monument’s creation seeks to strike a balance between conservation and clean energy development, another Biden priority. The White House said the Chuckwalla monument will allow the construction and expansion of electric transmission lines to transport clean energy to population centers in the West. Renewable energy projects will be able to be developed near or adjacent to the monument.
“The establishment of Chuckwalla National Monument demonstrates that we can balance conservation and drive toward a clean energy future that serves everyone,” Laura Daniel-Davis, the Interior Department’s acting deputy secretary, said in a statement.
The Chuckwalla monument will be managed by Interior’s Bureau of Land Management. Its establishment creates a 600-mile corridor of protected lands from southwestern Utah to Chuckwalla, the White House said.
The Sattitla Highlands National Monument in northern California will preserve 224,000 acres across three national forests. The area is sacred to the Pit River and Modoc tribes.
A dormant volcano, known as Medicine Lake, creates a dramatic landscape of craters and lava tubes. Rainfall in the area is filtered through the volcanic rock, filling underground aquifers for Northern California communities.
Brandy McDaniels, a Pit River tribe member who has advocated for the creation of the monument, said her people have fought geothermal energy development in the area for decades, and welcomed lasting protection.
“As tribal people that are socio-economically suppressed, we are constantly faced with corporations that have endless resources to come and exploit and degrade our water resources and our land,” McDaniels said.
The Sattitla monument will be managed by the U.S. Forest Service, a division of the Department of Agriculture.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Leslie Adler)
