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Biden designates 2 national monuments in California, preserving 848K acres

By Chris Benson & Darryl Coote
President Joe Biden is applauded following the signature of a proclamation to establish the Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in California at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Photo by Anna Rose Layden/UPI
1 of 3 | President Joe Biden is applauded following the signature of a proclamation to establish the Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in California at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Photo by Anna Rose Layden/UPI | License Photo

Jan. 14 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden on Tuesday evening designated two national monuments in fire-plagued California just days before he exits the White House, cementing his legacy as having conserved more lands and waters than any other U.S. president

Biden had intended to make the announcement in Coachella Valley last Tuesday, but fires that erupted around Los Angeles prompted the signing ceremony to be moved to the White House.

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"I was hoping we were going to do this in a place so the American people ... would see what we're talking about, feel it, sort of taste it," he said. "This is the closest we can get."

With signing the presidential proclamations, Biden created the Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument, preserving 848,000 acres of lands for their scientific, cultural, ecological and historical importance and which are surrounded by canyon walls in the Eastern Coachella Valley.

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During his remarks, Biden told of how he and first lady Jill Biden had made it an annual tradition to take their children and grandchild to visit the United States' national parks to see all that has been preserved by U.S. presidents.

"Imagine, imagine if they had not acted," he said.

"It's absolutely majestic. Our natural wonders are the heart and soul of our nation," he continued. "They unite us. They inspire us. It's a birthright we pass down from generation to generation."

The outgoing Biden administration has preserved at least 674 million acres of U.S. lands and water over the last four years -- more than any other president in U.S. history, including noted environmentalist Theodore Roosevelt.

Tuesday's signing is also part of the Biden administration's agenda to preserve 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.

Following the ceremony, Biden was gifted an indigenous sash of Métis that he then wore as he left the ceremony.

This "historic announcement," said Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., will accelerate California's "crucial efforts to fight the climate crisis, protect our iconic wildlife, preserve sacred tribal sites, and promote clean energy while expanding equitable access to nature for millions of Californians," Padilla wrote in a statement.

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According to officials, Southern California's Chuckwalla National Monument will be Biden's "capstone action" that will create the "largest corridor of protected lands" in the continental United States to cover a nearly 600-mile stretch and 18 million acres -- referred to as the Moab to Mojave Conservation Corridor -- once its established.

Further, it will protect and preserve more than 624,000 acres of land in southern California that hold "extraordinarily diverse ecological, cultural, and historical value," officials say.

The area includes a wide-range of natural and cultural resources and the Colorado River, across the Colorado Plateau into the California deserts.

However, both monuments only will reserve federal lands and not state or private property.

Northern California's Sáttítla Highlands National Monument -- to be managed by the U.S. Forest Service under the federal Department of Agriculture -- will cover more than 224,000 acres of area to include parts of the Modoc, Shasta-Trinity and Klamath National Forests.

This follows a series of other official monument designations by the outgoing Democratic president in recent weeks, including establishment of the Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument in Carlisle, Penn., and the Frances Perkins National Monument in Newcastle, Maine last month in December.

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