Biden creating 2 national monuments in California

President Biden is creating two new national monuments in California, the White House announced Tuesday.

Biden will officially designate the Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument — protecting a combined 848,000 acres of particular significance to Native American tribes in the region. 

They are likely one of the last, if not the final, conservation actions completed by the Biden administration before President-elect Trump takes office. According to the White House, Biden has conserved more lands and waters than any other president. 

Originally, the designations were slated to occur Tuesday, but they were later postponed until next week.

“Today’s event will be rescheduled for next week at the White House so that key stakeholders can attend,” the White House said.

The 624,000-acre Chuckwalla National Monument in Southern California will be located at the meeting of the Mojave and Colorado deserts and will include mountain ranges, rock formations, woodlands and canyons, including the Painted Canyon, which is known for its colorful walls. 

Among the animal species it’s home to are the desert bighorn sheep, Agassiz’s desert tortoise and Chuckwalla lizard, which the monument is named for.

The 224,000-acre Sáttítla Highlands National Monument is in Northern California and features the dormant Medicine Lake Volcano.

Its landscape includes volcanic craters and cave-like lava tubes. It will encompass parts of the Modoc, Shasta-Trinity, and Klamath national forests.

It is home to wildlife, including the northern spotted owl, the Cascades frog, and the long-toed salamander, and contains lands significant to Native American groups, including the Pit River Tribe and Modoc peoples.

The White House said both monuments will protect clean water, honor areas of tribal importance and bolster access to nature.

During his tenure, Biden created 10 new national monuments and expanded five others, including three that Trump shrunk. In recent days, he has taken other conservation actions, including barring oil and gas drilling off the U.S.’s Atlantic and Pacific coasts. 

Alex Gangitano contributed.

— Updated at 4:18 p.m.