The next couple of months are vital to the critical national monument campaigns in California, and we are grateful to our Indigenous leaders that are doing the hard work to champion these projects over the finish line. This Thanksgiving holiday, we are calling on President Biden to designate the Chuckwalla National Monument, Kw’tsán National Monument, and Sáttítla National Monument.
Tribes—along with coalitions of elected officials, businesses, scientists, veterans, local residents, and more—are asking for these places to be protected, and these national monument proposals have broad and bipartisan support. These national monument designations would permanently protect cultural landscapes, conserve critical wildlife, and ensure that places that contribute to local economies and are beloved by local communities are here for generations to come. These three monuments would add one million newly conserved acres, bringing California closer to its goal of conserving 30% of its land and coastal waters by 2030 (30x30). Join us in urging President Biden to take action and ensure that these special places are permanently protected!
Chuckwalla National Monument Campaign
The proposed Chuckwalla National Monument includes approximately 644,000 acres of public lands in Riverside and Imperial Counties. It is located south of Joshua Tree National Park and reaches from the Coachella Valley region in the west to near the Colorado River in the east. This effort also proposes protecting public lands in the Eagle Mountains adjacent to Joshua Tree National Park. Six tribes have called on President Biden to protect this cultural landscape: the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, the Cahuilla Band of Indians, the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, the Colorado River Indian Tribes, and the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians. Additionally, almost the entirety of the proposed monument is critical habitat for the threatened desert tortoise, bighorn sheep, chuckwalla, and is the planned destination for reintroduction of Sonoran pronghorn. Sign the petition here!
Kw'tsán National Monument Campaign
The Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe has called on President Biden to designate the proposed Kw’tsán National Monument to protect more than 390,000 acres of their homelands in Imperial County. The proposed monument is part of a greater cultural landscape that connects to the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument and the previously designated Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada. National monument status for Kw’tsán would provide protections for cultural and sacred sites and prevent new mining claims and large industrial development within its boundaries. Sign the petition here!
Sáttítla National Monument Campaign
The proposed Sáttítla National Monument includes over 200,000 acres of culturally significant, ecologically rich, and geologically unique land within the Shasta-Trinity, Klamath, and Modoc National Forests in northeastern California. Inside these lands is a volcanic aquifer that creates an extensive spring-fed system. This unique geological feature is crucial for adapting to climate change and supporting endangered native species, like salmon, trout, and steelhead. Since time immemorial, the Pit River Nation has regarded Sáttítla, as sacred, and this area remains a spiritual center for the Pit River and Modoc Nations as well as for surrounding Tribal Peoples. This sacred land remains integral to the cultural identity and spiritual practices of these peoples today. The Pit River Tribe initiated the call for this national monument and has been working for generations to protect this landscape from the threat of industrial development. Sign the petition here!
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