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President Biden will dedicate two new national monuments to protect tribal lands in California On Tuesday, two sources with knowledge confirmed to The Hill.
Biden will designate the Chuckwalla monument in the Colorado desert in southern California near Joshua Tree National Park, as well as a second site, Sáttítla National Monument, in the state’s north, near the state line state of oregon.
The sources could not confirm the exact surface of the monuments, but a report The Washington Post said Thursday that the president plans to designate 644,000 acres for the Chuckwalla monument and 200,000 for Sáttítla.
Reached for comment, a White House spokesman would neither confirm nor deny the plans, but Biden is set to visit California. Eastern Coachella Valleynear the proposed Chuckwalla site on Tuesday, according to the president’s official schedule. One of the sources told The Hill Biden will likely designate both monuments at the event.
The establishment of the national monument sites will restrict the development of mining and solar energy in the affected areas.
The designation will come after intense lobbying by local tribal groups and members of California’s congressional delegation. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), former Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) and Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) co-sponsored bicameral legislation in 2024 to create the Chuckwalla monument while also asking Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate it.
“Our proposal reflects the input of tribal leaders who have fought for years to protect these sacred landscapes, and our energy industry partners who worked with us to carefully design the boundaries of the Monument to ensure that we can achieve our shared clean energy goals.” Padilla said in April.
President-elect Trump, whose first full day in the post will come exactly two weeks after Biden was previously due to make the designation back national monument protections established under Democratic administrations in his first term as president.
Transfer included reducing the size of Bears Ears Utah and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. Biden restored the original boundaries of both monuments in 2021.
