The Designation of Chuckwalla National Monument Would Protect Connected Ecosystems and Close the Nature Gap

With just less than one month left of the Biden administration, the president must make the most of this critical time remaining to cement his conservation legacy. One proposal that could make a big difference for communities and wildlife is to designate Chuckwalla National Monument in the California desert.

A new analysis by Conservation Science Partners (CSP) and the Center for American Progress finds that Chuckwalla contains some of the most varied and rare ecosystems and wildlife in the West and supports more ecological connectivity than any other U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in California. Additionally, closing the nature gap here would provide access to nature and its benefits to more people, not just a select few. For example, the designation of this national monument would serve to bridge the lack of access to nearby protected nature that Hispanic communities in Southern California experience: Around Chuckwalla, Hispanic communities are 60 percent more nature deprived than anywhere else in the country.

The proposed Chuckwalla National Monument would safeguard approximately 627,000 acres from the Coachella Valley to the Colorado River, in addition to about 17,000 acres along Joshua Tree National Park’s eastern boundary. This proposed area encompasses the homelands of the Iviatim, Nüwü, Pipa Aha Macav, Kwatsáan, Maara’yam, Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, Mojave, Quechan, and Serrano Nations and peoples. In addition to its uniquely important ecosystems, habitat corridors, and access to nature for Southern California communities, the proposed monument holds cultural and archaeological significance. President Joe Biden should use the Antiquities Act to conserve this proposed monument and connect a broader landscape of protected areas in the West.

Remarkable ecological values support the monument proposal

CSP and CAP’s new findings show that Chuckwalla has some of the most connected, diverse, and rare ecosystems in the West. Indeed, the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument is well known by its surrounding community as an area of bountiful biodiversity. The natural landscape in this proposed monument is exceptionally suited for wildlife, and thus is worthy of permanent protection.

To determine the ecological value of the proposed monument, CSP and CAP mapped and summarized 14 unique landscape characteristics, ranging from reptile biodiversity to ecological connectivity. These characteristics were compared with those of areas across four different domains: similarly sized areas across the West, similarly sized areas in California, similarly sized areas managed by the BLM in the West, and similarly sized areas managed by the BLM in California. The analysis found that Chuckwalla is particularly notable for its ecological connectivity, biodiversity, and ecosystem rarity.

Connected ecosystems

The proposed monument supports extraordinary levels of ecological connectivity—the ability for species to move freely across natural environments. Connectivity is important for migration, breeding, accessing food and habitat, and adaptation as ecosystems are increasingly affected by climate change. There are no other similarly sized BLM lands in California that support as much ecological connectivity as Chuckwalla, and the area supports more ecological connectivity than nearly 80 percent of a sample of similarly sized landscapes across the West. This continuous protection is significant for a variety of ecosystems and species migrations; clean water along the Colorado River watershed; archaeological and cultural protections of sacred Tribal landscapes; and the climate resiliency of lands in a dangerously warming and drought-susceptible region of the country.

The monument would encompass six wilderness areas and conserve the lands between them, supporting further habitat connectivity for high-mobility species such as the desert bighorn sheep and migratory birds. Chuckwalla’s designation would connect protected landscapes including Cibola National Wildlife Refuge and Buzzards Peak Wilderness Area to its south, and Joshua Tree National Park and the Palen/McCoy National Wilderness Area to its north. Adding a national monument to this region would help create a nearly contiguous stretch of protected landscapes from California’s southern border to southern Nevada and the eastern Sierra Nevada.

Reptile biodiversity

Given that it is named after an iconic southwestern lizard, the chuckwalla, it should be no shock that a Chuckwalla National Monument would support many important, rare, and imperiled reptile species such as the Mojave desert tortoise as well as populations of the Chuckwalla lizard. This area has greater reptile biodiversity than more than 85 percent of similarly sized areas across the West and 87 percent of similarly sized lands in California. The national monument designation would provide more robust protections for these iconic species and the habitats that support them and many other reptiles.

Rare ecosystems

Chuckwalla is exemplary in the number of rare ecosystem types that it contains relative to other areas across the West. These rare ecosystems include those with scarce, unique, or irreplaceable terrain, water, climate, or vegetation. The proposed monument contains greater ecosystem rarity than nearly all similarly sized BLM lands in the West. Rare desert ecosystems are especially vulnerable in the face of climate change and the increased likelihood of heat and drought. This landscape should be safeguarded as a national monument to ensure its ecological values are protected and managed for posterity.

The new monument would benefit nature-deprived communities

In addition to its ecological benefits, designating Chuckwalla as a national monument would broaden access to nature for people of different races and ethnicities. Communities of nearly all races and ethnicities in the 25-mile radius around Chuckwalla’s boundaries experience nature deprivation at a higher rate than the national average. Furthermore, there is a high concentration of nonwhite communities around Chuckwalla, and these communities experience almost 50 percent more nature deprivation here than they do elsewhere in the nation.

National monuments can serve as a crucial tool in closing the nature gap—the uneven and inequitable distribution of natural places within communities of color and low-income communities caused by a history of discrimination and dispossession of public lands. Those who experience the nature gap are considered nature deprived, meaning that they experience higher-than-average nature loss. Across the United States, communities of color are three times more likely to live in nature-deprived places than white communities are, and low-income communities are 20 percent more likely to live in nature-deprived places than are individuals of other income statuses. Designating national monuments can provide nature-deprived communities new nearby protected nature, offering them the associated physical and mental health benefits.

To assess how Chuckwalla’s designation would improve access to nature for nearby communities, the CSP and CAP analysis identifies the census tracts within a 25-mile radius of the proposed monument’s boundaries that experience the highest proportions of nature loss. The disproportionate rates of nature loss in this area of the California desert are felt most heavily by Hispanic communities. Relative to elsewhere in the United States, Hispanic communities are more prevalent in the 25 miles surrounding Chuckwalla and are 60 percent more likely to be nature deprived compared with similar communities across the nation. American Indian and Alaska Native communities in the 25-mile radius of the proposed monument also experience disproportionate rates of nature deprivation: They are 87 percent more likely to be nature deprived than similar communities across the nation. Closing the nature gap helps ensure everyone has access to nature and its benefits, not just a privileged few. Protecting Chuckwalla as a national monument would mean improved physical and mental health, clean air and water, and more readily available outdoor recreation opportunities for communities who have historically not been granted these benefits.

Community-led conservation in the California desert

The designation of Chuckwalla National Monument would serve to actualize the overwhelming community and Tribal support for protecting this site. In September 2023, Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-CA) joined Tribal and community leaders to ask President Biden to designate Chuckwalla National Monument with the Antiquities Act. The announcement was followed by legislation introduced in the House and Senate and a May 2024 visit from U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, who met with Tribal leaders, local officials, and community advocates to learn about their vision for Chuckwalla’s protection. In June 2024, the U.S. Department of the Interior hosted a public meeting near the site, which more than 700 community members attended to share feedback on and support for the monument proposal. The community support for Chuckwalla’s protection is evident and should provide a strong basis for the Biden administration to take immediate action toward its designation.

Conclusion

Designating the 627,000-acre Chuckwalla National Monument would safeguard ecosystems and biodiversity, expand connectivity of protected landscapes across the West, and significantly improve access to nature for communities in the California desert. President Biden has committed to protecting nature and prioritizing environmental justice, and the designation of this monument would further deliver on these goals. With one month left in his term, acting on a popular conservation proposal that would connect protected landscapes across the West would be a remarkable move to solidify his legacy as one of the country’s most conservation-forward presidents. With the Trump administration soon to take office, there is no time to waste in protecting the nation’s most culturally and ecologically important lands.

The author would like to thank Jenny Rowland-Shea, Cody Hankerson, Beatrice Aronson, Meghan Miller, Chester Hawkins, Bianca Serbin, Audrey Juarez, Patrick Freeman, Elissa Olimpi, Caitlin Littlefield, Vincent Landau, Justin Suraci, Conservation Science Partners, and the local and national conservation leaders who are building impactful and equitable conservation solutions every day.