Protecting Land

Medicine Lake, Sáttítla National Monument (Image: Brendan Wilce)

The Climate Equity Policy Center was thrilled by President Biden’s announcement in early January designating the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument and Chuckwalla National Monument in California. These new monuments together will protect 848,000 acres of land. The Climate Equity Policy Center helped to draft and organize signatories for Sáttítla and Chuckwalla public health letters in support of the national monument protections, and we are so pleased to see this effort come to fruition.

The monument designations will advance health and health equity. These monuments protect areas that are sacred and significant for Tribes, promote natural climate solutions, protect drinking water and biodiversity, and advance park access and equity. 

Obsidian Face on Glass Mountain, Sáttítla National Monument (Image: Brendan Wilce)

• Sáttítla, also known as the Medicine Lake Highlands, is in far Northeastern California. It is a spiritual center for the Pit River and Modoc Tribes, a key water source, and a geologically and biologically rich area.

• Chuckwalla is near Joshua Tree. Its protection will support improved air quality and parks access in the region, as well as protecting sacred sites, objects, plants, and wildlife in the California desert.

• Chuckwalla’s protection rounds out the Moab to Mojave Conservation Corridor, the largest corridor of protected lands in the continental United States, protecting natural lands, habitat, and cultural resources from Utah, along the Colorado River through Arizona and Nevada, to the California desert.

This success was due to many years of advocacy by a coalition of Tribes, community members, environmental justice groups, advocacy organizations, and political leaders. Congratulations to everyone who has been involved -- it is soul nourishing to see these crucial, cherished lands protected.