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Chuckwalla National Monument
Chuckwalla National Monument is a national monument in the Colorado Desert of Southern California that protects 624,270 acres (2,526.3 km2) of desert habitat in Riverside and Imperial counties from development.[1][2] The monument spans several mountain ranges between Joshua Tree National Park and the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range. In September 2023, Congressman Raul Ruiz introduced federal legislation to create the monument, with support from California senators Alex Padilla and Laphonza Butler.[3][4] The act would also expand the adjacent Joshua Tree National Park by roughly 17,000 acres, and split management of the monument between the Bureau of Land Management and the local Cahuilla Indian tribe.[4] President Joe Biden established the monument by proclamation under the Antiquities Act on January 14, 2025.[5][6][7] Features The monument is named after the chuckwalla lizards native to the area. Other local wildlife include Desert bighorn sheep and Desert tortoise.[8] Some of the areas that would be absorbed into the monument include the already protected Mecca Hills, Orocopia Mountains, Chuckwalla Mountains, Little Chuckwalla Mountains, Palo Verde Mountains, and Milpitas Wash wilderness areas.[1] Existing outdoor recreational and historical sites that would become part of the monument include the Eagle Mountain Railroad, various training sites dating from World War II, and already existing hiking trails.[9] The Bradshaw Trail, a historic state route and BLM Back Country Byway, runs through the monument. Protection efforts Calls for land protection in the area have come from a variety of sources, including the Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, Mohave, Quechan, and Serrano tribes, who together propose that Joe Biden create the monument under the powers of the Antiquities Act.[4] The nearby Yuma tribe also seeks to protect nearly 400,000 acres as the Kw'tsán National Monument.[4][10] Additionally, the monument designation is supported by Audubon, California Native Plant Society, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, and others.[11] The land that would constitute the proposed monument is all owned and managed by the federal government, but would be set aside to protect the existing environment from expanding suburban developnment and solar and wind energy projects.[1] In an agreement with renewable energy companies, the original proposal was reduced by 40,000 acres to maintain access to transmission lines for solar development.[12] Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland visited the area in May 2024.[13] The California legislature unanimously passed a resolution in support of the monument.[14] On January 2, 2025, the Washington Post reported that President Biden would establish Chuckwalla National Monument along with Sáttítla Highlands National Monument.[15] Biden planned to do so at an event in the Coachella Valley on January 7, but it was canceled due to a Santa Ana windstorm and rescheduled to be at the White House on January 14.[16][17][18] The proclamation calls for co-stewardship and management of the monument with Tribal Nations.[7] With the monument's establishment, the White House announced the Moab to Mojave Conservation Corridor, a 600-mile continuous network of protected areas spanning California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah.[19][20] Gallery
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