New national monument proposed south of Joshua Tree National Park

The area is home to desert tortoise, bighorn sheep and chuckwalla and offers important recreation space for people in nearby communities.

Erin Rode
Palm Springs Desert Sun
  • In addition to the national monument proposal, the Protect California Deserts campaign is separately proposing to expand Joshua Tree National Park to the east in the Eagle Mountain area.

The vast stretch of the Colorado Desert bordering the southern edge of Joshua Tree National Park provides vital habitat for threatened and endangered desert wildlife, including the desert tortoise, bighorn sheep and chuckwalla ― but it also offers important recreation space for the humans living in nearby communities in the eastern Coachella Valley and surrounding the Salton Sea. 

Mecca Hills Wilderness, for example, is home to the popular Ladder Canyon and Painted Canyon Trail, where hikers can view colorful giant rock formations and scramble up ladders through a narrow canyon. The nearby Dos Palmas Preserve, the Orocopia Mountains and Box Canyon Road are all also popular local hiking and camping destinations.

A mountainous view is seen from along Painted Canyon Road on the way to Painted Canyon Trail in Mecca, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022.

The importance for local recreation is one big reason why a coalition of environmental groups is campaigning for the creation of a new national monument that would encompass these areas, as well as thousands of acres of habitat for desert wildlife. 

“We’re making this a people-centric campaign because oftentimes, monument or conservation campaigns focus on the importance of wildlife and birds, and as an environmentalist that is always super important for me. But as a member of this community, I understand that these local communities do not always have access to the outdoors, they're very park-deprived communities,” said Frank Ruiz, director of Audubon California’s Salton Sea Program. Audubon California is one of the organizations behind the monument campaign. “And as the Salton Sea continues to recede and deteriorate, there are even less recreation opportunities for communities nearby.”

The proposed Chuckwalla National Monument, named for the large lizard found in the desert region, would hug Joshua Tree National Park’s southern boundary, stretching along Interstate 10 from the edge of the eastern Coachella Valley all the way to the Colorado River. The proposed monument is nearly 700,000 acres, and would include land in both Riverside and Imperial counties. In addition to the national monument proposal, the Protect California Deserts campaign is separately proposing to expand Joshua Tree National Park to the east in the Eagle Mountain area.

“These are the kinds of places we’d like to protect, and folks who have been there know that these are extraordinary places and should be protected into the future,” said Colin Barrows with CactusToCloud Institute, one of the organizations behind the campaign. Barrows noted the Bradshaw Trail and Corn Springs Campground as two additional sites that would be protected by the monument. The Bradshaw Trail is a 70-mile dirt road that was the first road blazed across Riverside County to the Colorado River in 1862. 

Hikers return to their vehicles on Painted Canyon trail in Mecca, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022.

A 'people-centric' campaign

If the Chuckwalla National Monument proposal comes to fruition, the Chuckwalla National Monument would be the third national monument in the Coachella Valley region, joining the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument and Sand to Snow National Monument, and would be the first national monument in the eastern Coachella Valley region. A coalition of environmental and conservation groups called the Protect California Deserts campaign officially launched the national monument campaign earlier this year.

There are two avenues to national monument status: a vote by Congress or a presidential designation under the Antiquities Act. Both routes have been used in the Coachella Valley region ― the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument was established by Congress in 2000, and more recently, then-President Barack Obama established the Sand to Snow National Monument in 2016. 

Either option would likely start with the Congressional representative for the area, Rep. Raul Ruiz, a Democrat, who could either introduce the proposal as legislation in Congress or bring the proposal to the Biden administration, according to Barrows.

Ruiz’s office “is aware of the plans for the Chuckwalla National Monument, and we look forward to reviewing a final proposal from the groups,” according to spokesperson Kelly O’Keeffe. 

A wilderness boundary sign is seen near the Painted Canyon Trail head in Mecca, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022.

Historically, campaigns for national monuments and other conservation protections have often focused on the importance of a region’s habitat or ecosystem for plants or wildlife, or on other unique features. But the Chuckwalla National Monument is part of a recent push to recognize the recreational and cultural significance of public lands across the U.S., with an emphasis on protecting lands that provide recreation opportunities for groups typically underrepresented in the outdoors. 

“We haven’t really placed people at the center of ecosystems, but we are part of the larger ecosystems, communities are part of their larger ecosystem. If we can think in an inclusive way of putting people within the discussion of habitat protection, for me that’s what should be the approach of the new conservation movement,” said Frank Ruiz of Audubon California. 

The Biden Administration is also focused on this goal ― President Biden established a national goal last year to conserve at least 30% of U.S. lands and freshwater by 2030, with an additional emphasis on increasing access to the outdoors and nature-based recreation in historically underrepresented communities. 

A designated camping area is seen along Painted Canyon Road in Mecca, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022.

In October, Biden designated the first national monument of his administration at Camp Hale, an alpine World War II-era training site in Colorado. Obama designated more national monuments than any other president, with 29 new national monuments, including seven in California. During his time as president, Donald Trump established one new national monument using his authority under the Antiquities Act, but also notably took the unprecedented step of placing 27 established national monuments under federal review, resulting in the reduction of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments by more than 2 million acres. In 2021, Biden restored the two Utah monuments to their previous sizes.

In November, Biden expressed support for the creation of a new national monument in the Mojave Desert in southern Nevada, although he stopped short of a formal proclamation. Avi Kwa Ame, also known as Spirit Mountain, spans nearly 450,000 acres and is considered sacred by many tribes in Arizona, Nevada, and California. A coalition of tribes, local residents, the Nevada Legislature, environmentalists and recreation enthusiasts have campaigned for monument status since 2020, as the Arizona Republic reported. 

National monument campaigns focused on outdoor access and recreation are also ongoing in other parts of the country. In Texas, the proposed Castner Range National Monument would protect public lands located near El Paso, and groups advocating for monument status have stressed the Castner Range’s importance for outdoor access due to its close proximity to the city, where a majority of residents are Hispanic.

The sun sets over the mountains as seen from Painted Canyon Road in Mecca, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022.

Solar energy development happening nearby

The land within the proposed monument boundaries is all under the Bureau of Land Management, with various specific designations ― Mecca Hills and Orocopia Mountains are both designated wilderness areas, for example, where regulations are generally stricter than the non-wilderness BLM lands surrounding these designated areas. 

“We want to stitch that patchwork of different protection levels altogether into one unified place and say, this place is special and worthy of protection. And we want to see those protections made permanent, we want to be part of the investment in outdoor recreation and in combating climate change for the Coachella Valley and for the communities of the Coachella Valley,” Barrows said. 

The Bureau of Land Management doesn't take positions on proposed or draft legislation, according to spokesperson Michelle Van Der Linden, so the agency doesn't have a stance on the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument.

National monument designations only apply to federally managed land within the monument boundaries, so a designation wouldn’t impact private land inholdings and existing uses located within the proposed monument. For example, the Coachella Canal runs through the proposed monument. 

A view from above shows the steep mountain ridges surrounding Painted Canyon Trail in Mecca, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022.

Barrows said momentum for the monument grew recently out of concerns about potential development in the region and the desire to protect desert landscapes as a climate change strategy. 

Swaths of land in Riverside and Imperial Counties north of the proposed monument boundaries are flagged for solar energy development under the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, a 22.5 million-acre plan covering seven counties that identifies specific development focus areas for renewable energy, while also specifying which areas should be conserved for wildlife, recreation, cultural, and other uses. 

“Our proposal is complementary to the solar development that should we feel can and should be out there. We’re doing this because we all care about the environment, we all care about climate change, and I think those two things, solar development and protecting the desert, should work together, not be opposed to each other,” said Barrows. 

The proposed monument’s boundaries were specifically drawn to avoid the areas deemed suitable for renewable energy development under the plan, according to Barrows. 

“What we want to do is protect the wildlife corridors and recreation corridors and access to cultural sites for Indigenous people, so that the solar that’s going in all around there can go in, but it’s not going to get in the way of people and wildlife that have been enjoying the land or using the land or living on the land for in some cases thousands of years,” Barrows said. 

The coalition says the designation would also protect cultural sites for area tribes and historic World War II training sites. 

The parking area near the Painted Canyon Trail head is seen in Mecca, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022.

Proposed monument contains important habitat

The proposed monument represents one of the most pristine and least impacted stretches of the Colorado Desert in California, according to the coalition, with public lands providing critical wildlife corridors between Joshua Tree National Park and other protected areas. The desert tortoise, which is listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act as a threatened species, is found in the area, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has also identified the Chuckwalla Bench as a potential re-introduction site for the critically endangered Sonoran pronghorn.

The proposed monument also provides important habitat for birds, according to Frank Ruiz. Rare “microphyll woodlands,” comprised of palo verde and ironwood trees that grow in desert washes, make up just 5% of vegetation in the Colorado Desert, but more than 90% of migratory birds use these areas. 

“These very pristine areas need to be protected, especially as we continue walking into the worst drought in modern history,” Frank Ruiz said. 

The coalition is hoping that a national monument designation would both raise awareness about the outdoor opportunities in the area ― potentially bringing in more local visitors ― and improve how lands are managed within the monument boundaries. The campaign effort also includes a proposal that the Bureau of Land Management conduct a study to assess recreation needs in the area. 

Painted Canyon Road is seen from above leading back to town from the hiking trail heads amongst the mountains in Mecca, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022.