President Joe Biden is establishing two new national monuments in California that will honor Native American tribes, the White House confirmed Tuesday, as Biden seeks to conserve at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030 through his “America the Beautiful” initiative.
Proclamations set to be signed Tuesday will create the Chuckwalla National Monument in Southern California near Joshua Tree National Park and the Sáttítla National Monument in Northern California. The declarations bar drilling and mining and other development on the 624,000-acre (2,400-square-kilometer) Chuckwalla site and roughly 225,000 acres (800 square kilometers) near the Oregon border in Northern California.
The new monuments will protect clean water for communities, honor areas of cultural significance to tribal nations and Indigenous peoples, and enhance access to nature, the White House said.
Doug LaMalfa issued the following statement;
While I appreciate the importance of preserving our natural areas, I have concerns about the designation of the Sáttítla-Medicine Lake area as a national monument and oppose the use of the Antiquities Act to bypass Congress’ role. This land is already under federal jurisdiction, and adding more federal rules will create unnecessary challenges for land management, particularly in wildfire prevention and maintaining usage for local residents. There is no pressing need for this action—especially to the tune of 206,000 acres, in the waning days of this Administration. Instead, it serves as a last-minute dig at those who oppose a 100% hands off approach to land use and management, when the area impacted has consistently rejected this Administration’s policies.
Medicine Lake holds significant cultural and recreational value, and it’s crucial that any designations do not hinder the ability to manage these lands effectively or limit usage for those who rely on them, including for hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, off road vehicle use, and fire mitigation. This action wasn’t needed, and I believe it should be scaled down or reversed later this month.
