Wednesday, September 18, 2024 – Tribes continue to push National Monument designations for cultural preservation

Tribes in California are urging President Joe Biden to designate three new national monuments in order to protect what the tribes say are natural and cultural treasures. The proposed Sáttítla National Monument would cover 200,000 acres in northeastern California important to the Pit River and Modoc Nations. The California State Assembly also signed onto the push to designate 627,000 acres as the Chuckwalla National Monument and almost 400,00 acres as the Kw'tsán National Monument. The effort comes as the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals is expected weigh in on a challenge to President Biden’s use of the Antiquities Act to set aside some 1.5 million acres of land, including the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah.