President Biden's action on Thursday expand two national monuments In California it is undoubtedly good news for our climate and environment.
A proclamation will increase the size of San Gabriel Mountains National Monument by nearly a third, adding more than 105,000 acres of mountains and hills over communities from Sylmar to Monrovia that were left out when President Obama first designated the area in 2014. The other will add 13,696 acres to Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in the north of California to protect Molok Luyuk or Condor Mountain Range.
But Biden shouldn't stop there. His administration should build on these conservation efforts and extend monument status to three other ecologically rich California landscapes with deep meaning for indigenous tribes.
The most significant proposal would create Chuckwalla National Monument on more than 600,000 acres of federal land near Joshua Tree National Park that stretches from the Coachella Valley to the Colorado River. Another would establish the 200,000 acres Sáttítla Medicine Lake Highlands National Monument near Mount Shasta. The third would designate Kw'tsán National Monument on 390,000 acres in Imperial County along the border with Mexico and Arizona.
Protecting those lands would bring California closer to its goal to conserve at least 30% of land and coastal waters by 2030. With Thursday's proclamations adding 120,000 acres, California now has about 24.5% of its land conserved under its “30×30” initiative, according to the state. But there are still 5 million more acres to go. And it's hard to see a realistic path to achieving that without increasing protections on large swaths of federal lands.
“We believe now is the time,” said California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, who attended the White House ceremony Thursday where Biden signed the national monument expansions alongside tribal leaders, conservation groups and elected officials. .
Since nearly half of California's land is owned by the federal government, “there's no way we're going to get to 30×30 without enhanced conservation measures and enhanced protections on federal lands,” Crowfoot said in an interview.
Biden has invoked the Antiquities Act ten times during his presidency to designate and expand national monuments. The 1906 law has been used. hundreds of times by presidents of both parties to establish or expand protections in places as impressive and beloved as the Grand Canyon, Death Valley, and the Joshua Tree.
This statutory authority allows him to bypass Congress and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which are unlikely to pass legislation to protect these areas. With the November election on the horizon, Biden would be wise to act on the three remaining California proposals in the coming months and cement his legacy to the conserving more land during his first term than any other president since Jimmy Carter.
Boosting federal protection is not just the right thing to do; It is in humanity's self-interest to reserve wild open spaces that provide an outlet for public recreation, help keep air and water clean, preserve rare species, and provide a protective buffer as we experience the worsening effects of climate change and biodiversity loss. Doing so would put the state and nation on a more sustainable path and leave a legacy of conservation that will produce benefits for generations to come.
