新媒网 · 跨境数据社区

President Joe Biden will use his authority under the Antiquities Act today to designate two new national monuments in California: Chuckwalla National Monument and Sáttítla Highlands National Monument. Together these monuments will add protections for over 800,000 acres of culturally and ecologically significant land. Chuckwalla National Monument protects 620,000 acres of fragile desert ecosystem just south of Joshua Tree National Park. The monument is named for the chuckwalla lizard, a native species found in the region. Establishing this monument will help ensure equitable access to nature for local communities, as well as safeguard biodiversity, wildlife habitat, and critical wildlife migration corridors. The area holds cultural, natural, and spiritual significance for Indigenous peoples and includes the homelands of the Iviatim, Nüwü, Pipa Aha Macav, Kwatsáan, and Maara’yam peoples. Sáttítla Highlands National Monument protects more than 220,000 acres of water-rich and culturally significant land important to the Pit River Nation. The monument comprises the upper reaches of the Medicine Lake Highlands and boasts unique geology formed by volcanoes. The area also serves as a giant freshwater aquifer, storing snowmelt that provides water for millions of Californians. With these designations, President Biden has protected more federal land and waters than any other president, about 674 million acres, and made significant progress toward the national goal of protecting 30 percent of America’s lands and waters by 2030. The establishment of Chuckwalla National Monument also completes the largest corridor of protected lands in the continental United States, according to the White House, which covers nearly 18 million acres stretching approximately 600 miles. This new Moab to Mojave Conservation Corridor protects wildlife habitat and a wide range of natural and cultural resources along the Colorado River, across the Colorado Plateau, and into the deserts of California.