President Joe Biden extended two national monuments in California on Thursday, responding to demands from tribal nations, Indigenous community leaders, and others to permanently conserve approximately 120,000 acres (48,562 hectares) of critical cultural and natural property.
Beginning in 2021 in accordance with Biden’s campaign promises, the Democratic president’s “America the Beautiful” effort includes the designations and builds upon the Great American Outdoors Act. They aim to recognize tribal traditions, meet government targets of conserving 30% of public lands and streams by 2030, and address climate change, according to a White House news release.
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During Biden’s reelection campaign, the White House highlighted Vice President Kamala Harris’ involvement in securing protections in her home state. The state of California also has conservation goals.
“These expansions will increase access to nature, boost our outdoor economy, and honor areas of significance to tribal nations and Indigenous peoples as we continue to safeguard our public lands for all Americans and for generations to come,” Harris said in a statement to the media.
Some Republicans and other critics of the president’s plan believe it wastes resources that could be used for agriculture and other purposes. In several circumstances, they claim he exceeded his lawful authority. Some of the president’s previous acts include reinstating monuments or conservation areas that former Republican President Donald Trump revoked.
Biden extended the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument in Pasadena, Southern California, after Indigenous peoples such as the Fernandeรฑo Tataviam Band of Mission Indians and the Gabrieleno San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians requested it. Both are the original caretakers of these culturally rich and diverse territories, according to supporters in a separate press release.
The president also expanded the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in Sacramento, Northern California, to include Molok Luyuk, popularly known as Condor Ridge. For thousands of years, the newly dubbed ridgeline has been important to tribal nations such as the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation. Advocates claim it is a central location for religious events and was previously a key commerce route.
The expansion of both locations makes nature more accessible to Californians while also safeguarding several species, including black bears, mountain lions, and tule elk, according to a White House release.
Californians are calling on the Biden administration to designate five monuments this year. The other three include the establishment of new Chuckwalla and Kw’tsรกn National Monuments, as well as a call to conserve and recognize Sรกttรญtla, also known as the Medicine Lake Highlands, as a national monument.
Expansion and designation activities are carried out under the Antiquities Act of 1906, which empowers the president to “provide general legal protection of cultural and natural resources of historic or scientific interest on federal lands,” according to the Department of the Interior.
Over the last three years, tribal and conservation alliances across the country have asked Biden to make a number of additional designations. The White House announced Thursday that the administration had established or expanded seven national monuments, restored protections for three more, and taken additional steps.
Last August, Biden signed a national monument designation outside Grand Canyon National Park called Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni, which the top two Republicans in Arizona’s Legislature are currently contesting.
In 2021, Biden restored two huge national monuments in Utah and a marine conservation area in New England after Trump reduced environmental safeguards. Courts also contested the decision.
In 2023, El Paso, Texas, established the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument, sacred to Native Americans in southern Nevada, alongside the Castner Range.
