President Joe Biden will travel to the Coachella Valley in Riverside County Tuesday afternoon to formally announce the creation of a national monument south of Joshua Tree National Park.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrived at Los Angeles International Airport aboard Air Force One at 9:32 p.m. Monday from New Orleans, where they met with “families and community members impacted” by the New Year’s terror attack on Bourbon Street that left 15 people dead and dozens more injured, according to the White House.
The president is scheduled to travel to Thermal in Riverside County early Tuesday afternoon to officially announce his action establishing the Chuckwalla National Monument near Joshua Tree, as well as the SáttÃtla National Monument in Northern California. White House officials said the two monuments will protect 848,000 acres of land that are of “scientific, cultural, ecological and historical importance.”
According to the White House, establishment of the Chuckwalla monument is Biden’s “capstone action to create the largest corridor of protected lands in the continental United States, covering nearly 18 million acres stretching approximately 600 miles. This new Moab to Mojave Conservation Corridor protects wildlife habitat and a wide range of natural and cultural resources along the Colorado River, across the Colorado Plateau, and into the deserts of California. It is a vitally important cultural and spiritual landscape that has been inhabited and traveled by Tribal Nations and Indigenous peoples since time immemorial.”
White House officials said the Moab to Mojave Conservation Corridor covers nearly 18 million acres stretching approximately 600 miles, protecting wildlife habitats and a wide range of natural and cultural resources along the Colorado River, across the Colorado Plateau, and into the deserts of California.
The Moab to Mojave Conservation Corridor stretches from Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southwestern Utah through Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni — Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in Arizona and Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada, both established by Biden in 2023, according to the White House. It extends to the desert and mountain regions of southwest California in the Coachella Valley and the Chuckwalla National Monument.
Establishment of the Chuckwalla National Monument south of Joshua Tree National Park, makes drilling, mining and other energy- and industrial-related activity illegal in the area.
“The designation of Chuckwalla and SáttÃtla National Monuments is another powerful action to protect California’s natural beauty, preserve critical habitats, and ensure future generations can enjoy these iconic landscapes,” Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California, said in a statement. “This thoughtful step reflects a deep commitment to conservation, and recognizes the efforts of environmental and tribal advocates, conservationists, and local communities who have long fought to safeguard these lands. As one of the Biden Administration’s final acts, it is a lasting gift to Californians and to the nation.”
Having previously advocated in Washington, D.C., for Biden to issue such a designation, Southern California tribal leaders spoke in October about their desire to protect the homelands of the Iviatim, Nüwü, Pipa Aha Macav, Kwatsáan and Maara’yam peoples, also known as the Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, Mohave (CRIT Mohave), Quechan and Serrano nations.
“Since time immemorial, we have called the lands in the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument home,” said Secretary Altrena Santillanes of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians. “These lands contain thousands of cultural places and objects of vital importance to the history and identity of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians.”
Advocates said the monument would also “protect important heritage values tied to the land, such as multi-use trail systems established by Indigenous peoples and sacred sites,” in addition to further recognizing tribal sovereignty and allow new ways for tribes to co-steward their homelands with federal agencies.
They said added protections for public lands would increase equitability in accessing the natural parts of the eastern Coachella Valley and surrounding areas, such as Mecca’s Painted Canyon trail and the Bradshaw Trail in southeastern Riverside County.
As outlined, the potential monument holds spiritual significance and contains natural resources sustaining multiple Indigenous peoples.
The organization Protect Chuckwalla cited the proposal as complementary to the developmental Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan. Monument boundaries were drawn not to interfere with areas the DRECP focused on as “suitable for renewable energy development,” with the DRECP in turn identifying parts of the lands in the eastern Coachella Valley as necessary for biological conservation.
“As the original stewards of these lands we have been tasked with preserving the cultural, natural, and spiritual values imparted by our ancestors,” said David Harper of the Mojave Elders for the Colorado River Indian Tribes. “Therefore, caring for these lands is a sacred duty and honor.”
Last year, at least two dozen members of the California congressional delegation, including Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Indio, and U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Laphonza Butler, called for the issuance of a Presidential Proclamation under the 1906 Antiquities Act to formally approve the national monument.
The idea also has support from tribal leaders and representatives, at least eight city governments in the Coachella Valley and more than 225 local businesses and establishments.
“For the Quechan people, a national monument designation status for the land means preserving the lifeways, culture, stories and teachings that connect us to our past, present and future,” said Donald Medart Jr. of the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe Council.
“We’re calling on President Biden to help us continue to share the beauty of these places that our ancestors entrusted us to steward by indefinitely protecting them.”
More information about the campaign to establish Chuckwalla National Monument can be found at protectchuckwalla.org.
Biden is scheduled to return to LAX later Tuesday afternoon, then helicopter to Santa Monica, where he is expected to spend the night.