COACHELLA, CA — Today, 370 scientists called on President Biden to designate a new Chuckwalla National Monument in the California Desert. These scientists join Tribal leaders, local cities and elected officials, business owners, conservation advocates, outdoor recreationists, and local residents and community members in their support of the proposed monument. In a letter to President Biden and his administration, scientists outlined how the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument is rich in ecological and scientific significance, with an abundance of native plants and animals as well as cultural and historic resources.

“Deserts are mischaracterized as empty, barren, and lifeless. None of that is true, especially when it comes to the scientific significance of the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument,” said Dr. Cam Barrows, Conservation Ecologist Emeritus, Center for Conservation Biology at University of California, Riverside. “The Chuckwalla and Orocopia Mountains, the heart of the Chuckwalla National Monument, include plant and animal species found nowhere else on earth as well as one of the healthiest Mojave Desert tortoise populations left. Protecting these landscapes is therefore critical. We encourage President Biden to take this step towards the permanent preservation of the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument.” 

The proposed Chuckwalla National Monument includes approximately 627,000 acres of public lands. It is located south of Joshua Tree National Park and reaches from the Coachella Valley region in the west to near the Colorado River in the East. This effort also proposes protecting approximately 17,000 acres of public lands in the Eagle Mountains adjacent to Joshua Tree National Park. The proposed Chuckwalla National Monument is complementary to the goals of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP), which identified areas suitable for renewable energy development as well as lands that should be safeguarded for their biological, cultural, recreation, and other values.

“The California Desert, including the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument, play an important and undervalued role in Carbon storage and sequestration,” said Robin Kobaly, botanist, wildlife biologist, and Executive Director of The SummerTree Institute, and author of “The Desert Underground. “The plants in the California Desert store vast amounts of Carbon underground in their roots and in the soil through partnerships with living root partners called mycorrhizal fungi. Impressive amounts of Carbon are held in undisturbed desert soils, plants, and roots, with massive carbon storage in calcite persisting for tens of thousands of years and longer if the soil is not disturbed.  For example, desert creosote bush scrub communities store and sequester Carbon at rates comparable to tropical rainforests in drier years. My whole career has been dedicated to better understanding and sharing through education the complex and critical relationships between desert ancient plants and our arid soils. They are complex, fascinating, and are the foundation of this undervalued, rich ecosystem, making them vitally important as we face the uncertainty of climate change ahead.”

Home to more than 20 species that are threatened, endangered, sensitive, or otherwise of concern, the protection of the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument is critical for the survival of native species in the face of climate change-related habitat loss, warming temperatures, and increased drought. Unique native plant species found nowhere else in the world have been identified within the proposed monument, including the Mecca aster, Orocopia sage, Munz’s cholla, and others. These lands are also critical for the region’s namesake, the chuckwalla lizard, as well as desert tortoise, and desert bighorn sheep. The desert woodlands and palm oases within the proposed monument also provide habitat vital to the survival of resident and migratory birds offering refueling stopovers for birds migrating from Mexico through California. 

“I have spent countless days within the rugged and astounding landscape of the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument area for my research as field botanist at UC Riverside. It’s impossible to overstate the importance of protecting the rare ecological complexity that occurs within this proposed monument,” said Melanie Davis, Field Ecologist at the Center of Conservation Biology at University of California, Riverside. “When I think about the need to designate Chuckwalla National Monument, it’s because of plants like the Orocopia sage (Salvia greatae). Almost the entirety of its range lies within the Orocopia mountains in the proposed monument. Our research has found that Orocopia sage is dying off at lower elevations because of drought and increased aridity– compounded by climate change as well as human activity. Monument designation will provide much needed support for the conservation of Orocopia sage and the other rare and endemic plants of this region. I have a great love and respect for this land, its inhabitants, and its history. Protecting these incredible landscapes, endemic ecosystems, and unique plants and animals is our duty as we strive to preserve biodiversity in our threatened deserts.”

Desert lands — such as the proposed monument — are scientifically recognized as significant carbon sinks, capturing and storing carbon emissions underground for thousands of years. The California Desert region, spanning Riverside and surrounding counties, holds sequestered carbon that has been captured and stored over millennia in undisturbed soils. Permanently protecting desert lands from development and other disturbances can help address climate change by ensuring these carbon reserves remain in the ground and out of the atmosphere.

Senator Alex Padilla, Representative Raul Ruiz, M.D., 24 members of the California congressional delegation including Senator Laphonza Butler, and local leaders have called for President Biden to designate the Chuckwalla National Monument through the Antiquities Act. This 1906 law allows presidents to designate federal public lands, waters, and cultural and historical sites as national monuments with a Presidential Proclamation. 

The designation of the Chuckwalla National Monument by President Biden would cement his legacy as a public lands champion. To date, President Biden has designated five new national monuments and expanded two, protecting over 1.6 million acres of public lands using the Antiquities Act. By designating Chuckwalla National Monument, President Biden can solidify an immense conservation achievement: protecting the most public lands using the Antiquities Act of any recent president in their first four years in office.

The proposed national monument has garnered diverse local support, including from the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, the Cahuilla Band of Indians, the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, the Colorado River Indian Tribes, the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, current and former local elected officials, the cities of Banning, Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, Indio, La Quinta, Palm Desert, and Palm Springs, over 300 businesses, business organizations and Chambers of Commerce, and residents of the eastern Coachella Valley and neighboring areas.

To learn more about this effort visit www.protectchuckwalla.org. 

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About the Protect CA Deserts Coalition

Protect CA Deserts is a coalition of local, regional, and national organizations working together on the historic opportunity to designate the Chuckwalla National Monument and protect lands adjacent to Joshua Tree National Park. This will help ensure access to nature for local residents and visitors, protect unique biodiversity, safeguard the desert’s rich history, and honor the cultural landscape of the Iviatim, Nüwü, Pipa Aha Macav, Kwatsáan, and Maara’yam peoples, also known as the Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, Mohave (CRIT Mohave), Quechan, and Serrano nations. For more information, visit protectchuckwalla.org.