Biden creates 2 new national monuments, setting a conservation record
NPR Online NewsDEC 24 2024
Biden Creates Two New California National Monuments
Above: Pres. Joe Biden speaks in the East Room of the White House on Jan. 5, 2025. Image copyright: Kent Nishimura/Stringer/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
US Pres. Joe Biden on Tuesday designated two new national monuments in California — the 624K-acre Chuckwalla National Monument near Joshua Tree National Park and the 224K-acre Sáttítla Highlands National Monument near the Oregon border.
The Chuckwalla monument protects the ancestral lands of five Native American tribes, including sacred sites, ancient trails, and cultural areas. It also provides a habitat for 50 rare species, including desert bighorn sheep and the Chuckwalla lizard.
The Sáttítla monument encompasses the Medicine Lake Volcano and contains the world's longest known lava tube system, protecting lands sacred to the Pit River Tribe and Modoc Peoples.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
Biden's actions answer the call from Californians to protect irreplaceable landscapes for future generations, honor tribal sovereignty through co-stewardship agreements, and ensure clean water access and wildlife habitat preservation. Biden has secured his environmental legacy and made it more difficult for Trump to reverse it.
Republican narrative
Like all of Biden's environmental actions in the closing weeks of his presidency, these hasty actions will drive up energy costs for average American consumers. These unilateral land restrictions will make it harder to build needed energy infrastructure and potentially hamper wildfire management efforts.
Metaculus Prediction
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