The Native American Land Conservancy will be celebrating the recent establishment of Chuckwalla Preserve to National Monument status today at Joshua Tree’s Más o Menos from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
On January 16th, 2025, former President Biden officially established the Chuckwalla National Monument, a stretch of land south of Joshua Tree that spans from the Coachella Valley region to the west towards the Colorado River in the east. The new Monument honors Tribal sovereignty and is expected to protect the cultural landscape, boost the economy, and ensure access to nature for local residents. It will also help ensure a balanced approach to renewable energy development and public land conservation in the California desert and preserve important military history sites.
NALC’s Education and Stewardship Program Manager Elizabeth Paige further explained the importance of this monument:
“The new monument is really a win for everyone who holds the desert as a spectacular marvel of nature that is worthy of protection. It provides a federal mandate to better care for and protect the landscapes that we have here in Southern California that are so special, so this establishment is an exciting opportunity to bring many different folks together to learn more about the desert and how we can all better steward the land. It provides a chance for us to balance not only the natural resources within the monument but also the cultural resources that’ll benefit recreation. It’ll benefit plants, animals, ecosystems‑‑all the desert communities. It also holds the ancestral lands of many different tribal nations and now these tribes will be able to work with federal officials to guide the management processes of Chuckwalla and provide input which aligns with our long established expertise of the natural values of the landscape.”
Join the NALC this afternoon to celebrate this achievement at Más o Menos from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., located at 66031 Twentynine Palms Highway across from Copper Mountain College.
The gathering will be on the patio, so please dress warm.
