California Just Got Two Brand New National Monuments. Here’s How to Visit.
The creation of Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument mark a historic day in conservation.
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Sunset at Lassen Peak with reflection on Manzanita Lake, Lassen Volcanic National Park, California
The White House announced today that President Biden has named two new national monuments in California: Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument. The two areas of land comprised by this new designation will protect 848,000 acres of wildlands of scientific, cultural, ecological, and historical importance. These designations are a landmark in conservation, making Biden the president that has now conserved more lands and waters than any other in U.S. history.
Biden has created and or re-designated 12 new national monuments during his tenure. The creation of Chukawalla completes the largest spread of protected lands in the lower 48 states, now known as the Moab to Mojave Conservation Corridor. The safeguarding of these public lands has been pushed for by many Native tribes due to its cultural and spiritual significance. The declaration now bars the area from energy development, prohibiting fossil fuel drilling, mining, and solar energy development.
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The Chuckwalla National Monument in Southern California encompasses around 644,000 acres on Joshua Tree’s southern border, stretching to the Colorado River in southern California. It’s known for its vast desert ecosystems and habitat for species like Chuckwalla lizards and desert tortoise. The Corridor it completes spans approximately 600 miles from southeast Utah to Southern California, and includes majestic mountain ranges, meandering canyons and washes, dramatic rock formations, palm oases, and desert-wash woodland. The Corridor encompasses popular sites for travelers like Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southwestern Utah.
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The new Sáttítla Highlands National Monument, which is located in northern California’s mountainous interior near Mount Shasta, is also noteworthy. Sitting close to Mount Shasta, it’s made up of more than 220,000 acres of the Medicine Lake Highlands. It’s an area of ecological significance for its countless native plant and animal species that thrive on the volcanic terrain from the dormant Medicine Lake Volcano.
According to the White House, this final work before the inauguration on January 20 puts a cap on Biden’s legacy, which pursued a bold goal to conserve at least 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030 through the America the Beautiful initiative.
