Public land in Mojave Desert just named as California's newest national monument

USA Today

30-01-2025

Public land in Mojave Desert just named as California's newest national monument The new monument was established in mid-January by outgoing President Joe Biden as one of his last executive actions to help restore endangered desert tortoise habitats
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Biden designates two new federal monuments in California
President Joe Biden announced a significant amount of California land as Chuckwalla, Sáttítla National Monuments.
Roughly 740,000 acres of the Mojave Desert comprise California's newest national monument in Riverside and Imperial counties.
Chuckwalla National Monument was established in mid-January by outgoing President Joe Biden as one of his last executive actions after several years of grassroots and advocacy campaigning by groups like Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT). It is now the fifth largest land-based national monument in the mainland U.S.
The national monument status offers an alternate future for the southernmost California desert as it grapples with climate change and habitat loss according to MDLT. The monument also serves to preserve the area's incredibly biodiverse land, nearly two-thirds of which is critical habitat for the endangered Mojave Desert tortoise and the desert pupfish.
The new monument houses The Chuckwalla Bench, one of the most intact tortoise habitats in the California desert. This area contains the highest density of desert tortoises in the 700-million-acre Colorado Desert and is critical for the species' recovery, according to state officials.
The Chuckwalla Bench is also the only place on earth where the Munz's Cholla is found, the largest cactus in California according to CA Desert Lands.
The move was influenced by pressures of the incoming Trump administration to drill for gas and oil in California as stated by Mojave Desert Land Trust Public Policy Officer Krystian Lahage.
"The Mojave Desert Land Trust is proud to have served as part of the movement to designate this new desert national monument, in collaboration with our conservation partners, Tribal leaders, and the greater community," the group said via social media.
Lahage and the groups' Executive Director Kelly Herbinson were "thrilled" and "honored" to have been among those invited to witness the official designation in person at the White House and they "thank President Biden for recognizing the overwhelming public support for [the national monument] designation and the tireless efforts of the monument's congressional champions Senator Alex Padilla and Rep. Raul Ruiz."
Key features of the new national monument
The area of the now-protected national monument has long served as a prominent hiking and camping sanctum.
The new Chuckwalla monument also protects World War II-era training sites including the Patton training camps and historical mining sites.
In addition, its protected status also ensures that special places like the Mecca Hills and Bradshaw Trail are safeguarded for future generations to recreate, and honors the homelands of the Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, Mojave, Quechan, and Serrano peoples.
The Ladder Canyon Trail via Painted Canyon is perhaps the most popular hiking trail in Chuckwalla National Monument. The trail winds through slot canyons carefully carved by the San Andreas fault with various ladders to climb up the steep canyon walls.
Corn Springs Campground is deep in the national monument, known for its heavy Native American use. The area bears some of the richest petroglyphs in the Colorado Desert and at only $6 a night, Corn Springs Campground is a low desert mecca.
Mojave Desert Land Trust
Mojave Desert Land Trust is dedicated to preserving and restoring the native California desert, according to its website. The group has been a part of the grassroots campaign advocating for greater protection of the Chuckwalla Mountain area.
The organization provided ways for the public to engage with excursions to the area and drew petitions calling on President Biden to designate the monument.
MDLT helped write the proposal to protect the land using their field experience stewarding desert tortoise habitats in the region. They also carried out an extensive on-the-ground analysis of the ecological factors within the proposed monument.
The grassroots group worked with conservation partners and Tribal leaders in building support for legislative and community initiatives to get Chuckwalla protected as a national monument.
The native land
The lands within the monument have, and continue to be, home to the Iviatim (Cahuilla), Nüwü (Chemehuevi), Pipa Aha Macav (Mojave), Kwatsáan (Quechan), and Maara'yam and Marringayam (Serrano), and other Indigenous peoples.
The area includes sacred trails, sacred sites and objects, traditional cultural places, geoglyphs, petroglyphs, pictographs, and culturally important plants and wildlife.
According to MDLT, this monument weaves together several special designations of critical landscapes within the boundary including California Desert National Conservation Lands, nine Areas of Critical Environmental Concerns, and five Wilderness areas including Mecca Hills, Orocopia Mountains, Chuckwalla Mountains, Little Chuckwalla Mountains, Palo Verde Mountains, and Milipitas Wash.
Next steps for Chuckwalla
Conservationists throughout California have to work together to figure out how to sustain the protection of Chuckwalla National Monument, Herbinson said. The monument status was a win, she continued, but now the real work begins.
Former Quechan Indian Tribal Councilmember Donald Medart Jr. mentioned similar sentiments to NBC Palm Springs.
"It's of the utmost importance for us to continue to work together. ... The tribes are working together with the outside community in order to ensure that this land is protected for all of us."
The Mojave Desert Land Trust stated that it looks forward to continuing its research and conservation work on behalf of the flora and fauna that occupy this unique landscape.
For those interested in volunteering either time or resources, visit www.mdlt.org.
McKenna Mobley is a Daily Press reporter and can be reached at [e-mail].