Biden establishes two new national monuments in California, as part of final big environmental push

President Biden on Tuesday established two new national monuments in California, the latest in a flurry of major environmental initiatives affecting the Golden State as his presidency comes to a close.

Biden designated the Chuckwalla National Monument in Southern California, south of Joshua Tree National Park, and the Sáttítla National Monument in Northern California, east of Mount Shasta near the Oregon border.

Chuckwalla is 624,000 acres of federal land, mostly overseen by the Bureau of Land Management where the Colorado and Mojave Deserts come together in a mix of scenic mountains and canyons. Sáttítla is 224,000 acres of national forest land in the remote landscapes of Siskiyou and Shasta counties. Together, the two areas are larger than Yosemite National Park.

Both places are sacred to native tribes, who pushed for monument status, which limits logging, mining, and other extractive uses, such as energy development.

“The stunning canyons and winding paths of the Chuckwalla National Monument represent a true unmatched beauty,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary. “I am so grateful that future generations will have the opportunity to experience what makes this area so unique.”

The Sáttítla monument, which includes parts of Shasta-Trinity, Modoc, and Klamath national forests, was a priority of the Pit River Tribe, which is based in Burney, near Mount Shasta.

“For generations, my people have fought to protect Sáttítla, and today we celebrate the voices of our ancestors being heard,” said Yatch Bamford, Chairman of the Pit River Nation. “Sáttítla Highlands National Monument is a victory not just for Tribal Nations but for every American who understands the value of clean water, healthy lands, and preserving the true history of these United States of America.”

Biden was scheduled to arrive in Thermal, in the Coachella Valley desert in Riverside County, about 25 miles south of Palm Springs Tuesday afternoon to give a speech marking the new Chuckwalla monument.

Tuesday’s moves were the latest in a wave of environmental actions that Biden has taken at the request of California leaders before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

On Monday, Biden withdrew 625 million acres of federal ocean waters from new offshore oil and natural gas drilling, including all federal waters off California, Oregon and Washington, along with the entire Atlantic Coast, and the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

In November, he finalized the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, banning oil drilling over 156 miles of coast along San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. It was the largest new national marine sanctuary in California in 30 years since President George Bush Sr., established the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary in 1992.

Last Friday, the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency granted California permission to enforce its zero-emission rules for lawn mowers and leaf blowers, and to allow tougher new emissions rules for refrigerated trucks and off-road vehicles like mining trucks and bulldozers. The decisions, called waivers, grant California the authority to set rules under the Clean Air Act that are more far-reaching than federal standards.

And in December, the EPA granted California waivers for the state’s landmark pollution rules for cars and trucks, which require a prohibition on the sale of new gasoline-powered passenger vehicles like cars, pickup trucks, and minivans by 2035.

Trump is expected to try to reverse the EPA waivers, which will likely lead to a prolonged court battle. In a radio interview Monday, he said he would also reverse Biden’s offshore oil drilling ban. But under a court ruling in 2019, to do so will require an act of Congress, where Republicans have a very narrow 219-215 majority in the House and may not have the votes.

Only Congress can establish new national parks. But Under the 1906 Antiquities Act, signed by President Theodore Roosevelt to reduce looting and theft of Indian pottery and artifacts in New Mexico and other areas, presidents can establish national monuments by proclamation on existing federal land, without approval from Congress.

Monument designation often brings new conservation rules that limit mining, oil drilling, or other development. Nearly every president has used the law to establish monuments, which in many cases Congress has eventually upgraded to national parks.

Roosevelt used it to set aside the Grand Canyon, and also Pinnacles in San Benito County; Herbert Hoover used it to protect Arches in Utah and Death Valley in California; Bill Clinton set aside Sequoia National Monument and George W. Bush used it to protect expansive areas of the remote Pacific Ocean, including the world’s deepest location, the Marianas Trench.