Tribes that have long fought to protect hundreds of thousands of acres of California land they consider sacred are about to get their wish.

President Biden is expected to sign a proclamation this week creating new chakwalas and Settlement title Tuesday's ceremony in Chuckwala, south of Joshua Tree National Park, was canceled due to high winds.

Covering 624,000 acres and stretching from the Coachella Valley to the Colorado River, Chuckwala will become the fifth largest continental national monument in the continental United States. The area is the ancestral homeland of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians and other tribes, who led the movement to defend the land.

Settlement title It will include more than 224,000 acres of dense forests and pristine lakes near the Oregon border. The Pit River Nation pioneered the title, citing the Medicine Lake Highlands region near Mount Shasta as their creation site.

The move bears the stamp of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve as Cabinet secretary and credited with elevating tribal voices in land management decisions.

At a reception after last week's canceled event, Haaland recalled visiting what would become Chuckwalla last year. She recounted hearing stories directly from different stakeholders about the importance of the landscape and how determined they were to ensure it was “protected and respected for current and future generations.”

"Well, you did—almost did," she said, nodding at the delay.

"Today is not the finish line for a number of reasons," she added. “This monument and this landscape, it still needs you. It needs advocates to share why protected lands strengthen local economies. It needs stakeholders to make sure our land management plans are correct. It needs friends to fully Unlocking the potential of plants, animals and visitors.”

Planned designations protect a total of 848,000 acres in California. Under the new announcement, Biden will use executive authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to designate 10 national monuments and expand or modify more, including two in the Golden State.

He will also protect more lands and waters than any president in history, according to the White House. Biden on Monday moved to protect the east and west coasts and the northern Bering Sea from offshore oil and gas drilling, a measure President-elect Donald Trump said he would reverse "on day one."

Supporters had urged Biden to build the monuments before Trump's January 20 inauguration. During his first term, Trump slashed the footprints of two Utah national monuments — Bears Ears and the Grand Staircase-Escalante — and eliminated protections for a marine monument. Biden reversed those changes.

A coalition led by tribal leaders says an upcoming monument in California will protect abundant wildlife and culturally important sites while avoiding resource extraction (including clean energy) and housing development.

Near the site of the scheduled signing ceremony, California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot welcomed the designated collaborative effort, calling it a paradigm shift.

“It represents a new model of conservation where environmental groups are actually working to support tribal leaders who are moving conservation efforts forward,” he said.

Opponents of the latest monuments, including small-scale miners, off-road enthusiasts and some local representatives, worry the designations will stifle recreation as well as economic and energy opportunities. Critics believe Biden has abused his executive power and want the incoming administration to reverse the president's actions.

Greg Smith, 40, parked on the road leading to where Biden was scheduled to speak and braved high winds to plant an American flag on an RV. "Biden Don't Disturb Our Desert" was written in blue tape on the back of the car.

Smith, a Palm Desert resident, said he worries monument status means he will be cut off from the land.

"We're going to lose our favorite family campground," he said, flanked by his 11-year-old daughter Katherine.

Three California Democrats, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and former Sen. Laphonza Butler, as well as Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Palm Desert) ) introduced legislation in April to designate Chuckwala National Monument. Then in September, Padilla and Butler introduced legislation to establish the Satytra National Monument. Both bills have advanced in a divided Congress.

Chakwala Monument starts from the west Painted Canyonan area of ​​mountainside dyed in deep reds, pinks, greens and grays. For the Cahuilla Indians of the Torres Martinez Desert, the red color of the hills and canyon walls symbolizes the bleeding heart of their creator, Mukat.

“We are pleased to see the designation of this area, which contains thousands of cultural sites and objects critical to the history and identity of the Cahuilla Indians of the Torres Martinez Desert,” said tribal Chairman Joseph DL. Joseph DL Mirelez said.

Ruiz said the monument, produced by a diverse coalition, shows that land conservation and renewable energy expansion can go hand in hand. He said the monument boundaries were narrowed during negotiations to "take into account growth potential as well as maintenance and upgrades of grid pipelines," ultimately winning over support from renewable energy and utility groups.

Some area politicians opposed the designation. Johnny Rodriguez, the deputy mayor of Blythe, a community of about 18,000 people on the east end of the monument, worries it will stifle economic development in the area.

Natural gas pipelines and heavy utility pipelines that serve the area are located within the boundaries of the new monument, which could limit future expansion of those pipelines and make it harder for developers to use any large projects Bryce builds, he said. These pipelines also cost more.

Blythe City Council issued a statement over the summer opposing the designation.

But other nearby communities are also involved. Palm Desert, a city of more than 50,000 people near Palm Springs, passed a resolution supporting the monument.

Palm Desert City Council member Evan Trubee said the designation will put the area on the radar of tourists, attracting them and their money.

Money raised through the tax helps provide local services, he said, adding that low-income areas in the eastern Coachella Valley could take advantage of the infusion of funds.

“If we could put some tourism dollars into these communities, I think it would make a huge difference,” he said.

In addition to its namesake chuckwallah lizard, the area is home to bighorn sheep, desert tortoises, kangaroos, burrowing owls and jackrabbits. Center for American Progress analyze The area was found to be one of the most ecologically connected areas in California, meaning its protection allows wildlife to move across large swaths of land undisturbed.

The designation would create a nearly continuous strip of protected land stretching from the state's southern border into southern Nevada and the eastern Sierra Nevada, the analysis said.

However, off-roaders, rock hunters and prospectors who mine small parcels of land in the area have expressed concern that these protections will prevent them from using the land.

Retired Marine Maj. Greg Herring, who owns a small tract of mining claims in Eagle Mountain, called the move an "atrocity" and said he planned to join others in asking Trump to revoke the designation. Herring insists the land is already adequately protected by existing designations and worries that status would disrupt the therapeutic recreation he and other disabled veterans find.

About 750 miles north, the new Sáttitla National Monument will also protect land associated with Aboriginal creation stories.

"For the Pit River people, this is a physical place of our creation and a very sacred place in the narrative of our people," said Brandi McDaniels of the Pit River Nation.

The monument covers the stunning natural beauty of parts of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Klamath National Forest, and Modoc National Forest. There are lush green forests, abundant wildflowers, intricate cave systems and potable water that can be consumed on site.

It is often called the headwaters of California because its lakes and aquifers help provide clean drinking water to the rest of the state.

McDaniels said the Pitt River Tribe has long been involved in litigation to block geothermal development in the area, and the monument status would prevent similar efforts from moving forward in the future.

However, some renewable energy advocates said the designation would result in the loss of an important source of clean energy that would advance the Biden administration's agenda to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Jeanne Rowland-Hsieh, director of public lands policy at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, said Biden's move is important given that Trump's record on public lands has led many to wonder whether the monument campaign will move forward in his second term. Timing is crucial.

Still, Trump would not necessarily seek to relax those protections or not protect more land, Rowland-Shea said. Historically, environmental protection has been a bipartisan concern and popular among voters, and presidents from both parties, including Trump, have set aside public lands in the past.

On the other hand, Trump, who publicly distanced himself from the conservative Plan 2025 during the campaign but appointed its contributors to executive positions, described a "pretty grim" approach to conservation, Rowland-Shea said. Condition.

"It all depends on whose side the Trump administration decides to side with: Are these internal special interests forcing him to roll back protections in these areas so that industry can drill and mine in all these places? Or is it, again and again? Polls show the American public really loves national monuments," she said.