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Biden Designates Chuckwalla and Sáttítla Monuments, Creating Largest Protected Land Tract in US

Jan 7, 2025, 12:14 PM

President Joe Biden is set to designate two new national monuments in California, the Chuckwalla National Monument in the south and the Sáttítla National Monument in the north, totaling 848,000 acres or 343,170 hectares. These designations will establish the largest tract of protected land in the continental United States. The Chuckwalla monument, located near Joshua Tree National Park, will span 624,000 acres and protect critical habitats for rare species including the desert bighorn sheep and the Chuckwalla lizard, while also preserving the ancestral homelands of several tribal nations such as the Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, Mojave, Quechan, and Serrano. The Sáttítla monument will cover 224,000 acres in the northern part of the state, including parts of the Modoc, Shasta-Trinity, and Klamath National Forests, and will protect areas sacred to the Pit River and Modoc Tribes. These actions are part of Biden's effort to cement his environmental legacy, protecting lands from drilling, mining, and other industrial activities, and come in response to lobbying from Native American tribes.