Biden includes sacred Native American site as part of new national monument

President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed a pair of official proclamations establishing national monuments on land in Nevada and Texas, protecting nearly 514,000 acres of land from development.

Biden established the Avi Kwa Ame (also known as Spirit Mountain) National Monument in southern Nevada. A dozen Native American tribes consider the over 506,000 acre site sacred, and artifacts in the area show evidence that people traveled there over a 10,000-year period.

“Protection of the Avi Kwa Ame area will preserve its diverse array of natural and scientific resources, ensuring that the cultural, prehistoric, historic, and scientific values of this area endure for the benefit of all Americans,” Biden said in his proclamation.

The site is the location of one of the largest Joshua tree forests in the world. It’s also a habitat for several species of animals, including desert bighorn sheep, Gila monsters and desert tortoises.

Biden also designated the Castner Range in El Paso, Texas, as a national monument. The over 6,500-acre territory is located on the Fort Bliss military base. The range was originally inhabited by the Apache and Comanche peoples, among other Native American tribes, and was used as a training site for the U.S. Army during World War II, the Vietnam War and the Korean War.

The White House said the designation would “honor our veterans, servicemembers, and Tribal Nations, and expand access to outdoor recreation on our public lands.”

In addition to the two newly announced monuments, Biden directed Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to consider designation of a National Marine Sanctuary in U.S. waters surrounding the Pacific Remote Islands, which are located southwest of Hawaii.

The sanctuary would protect 777,000 square miles of territory, including marine life in the region. The administration said creating the sanctuary would achieve Biden’s goal of protecting 30% of lands and waters under U.S. jurisdiction by 2030. Biden set the goal in a Jan. 27, 2021, executive order on tackling the global climate crisis, noting that water conservation is a key element in reducing pollution and protecting biodiversity.

The new designations follow in the footsteps of Biden’s previous actions to protect federal lands.

In January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture repealed a rule put in place by former President Donald Trump’s administration that would have allowed logging and creation of roads in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, protecting 9.37 million acres.

Similarly, in October 2021, Biden restored protections to the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah, encompassing over 2 million acres of territory. Trump significantly reduced the protected areas that former President Barack Obama established in 2016.

That month, Biden also restored fishing restrictions in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off the coast of New England. Under Trump, those regions had been opened up to commercial fishing interests despite concerns from environmental groups about the possible damage to marine wildlife.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.