[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 11 (Friday, January 17, 2025)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 6715-6725]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-01441]
[[Page 6713]]
Vol. 90
Friday,
No. 11
January 17, 2025
Part X
The President
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Proclamation 10881--Establishment of the Chuckwalla National Monument
Proclamation 10882--Establishment of the S[aacute]tt[iacute]tla
Highlands National Monument
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 90 , No. 11 / Friday, January 17, 2025 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 6715]]
Proclamation 10881 of January 14, 2025
Establishment of the Chuckwalla National Monument
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
In southeastern California, where the Mojave and
Colorado Deserts intersect, ancient trails weave
through a land of canyon-carved mountain ranges bound
together by radiating alluvial bajadas and dark
tendrils of dry wash woodlands. Sharing a name with the
wide-bodied lizard that is commonly found here and
derived from the Cahuilla word
``[ccaron][aacute]xwal,'' the Chuckwalla region is a
place of wonder that lies within the traditional
homelands of the Iviatim (Cahuilla), N[uuml]w[uuml]
(Chemehuevi), Pipa Aha Macav (Mojave), Kwats[aacute]an
(Quechan), Maara'yam and Marringayam (Serrano), and
other Indigenous peoples. It is imbued with religious,
spiritual, historic, and cultural significance for
Tribal Nations that trace their origins to these lands.
The area contains an abundance of artifacts attesting
to its connection to diverse human communities over
thousands of years. The region's mosaic of habitats is
also home to a remarkable array of plant and animal
species. The dramatic contortions of its mountain
ranges embody a fundamental story about the shaping of
our world that scientists are still learning to
decipher. The cultural, geologic, and ecological
resources on Federal lands in the Chuckwalla region
will continue to inspire and fascinate people and
provide a scientific research trove for generations to
come.
The Chuckwalla region comprises five geographically
discrete areas located between Joshua Tree National
Park and the Palen/McCoy Wilderness to the north,
California State Route 78 to the east, the Chocolate
Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range to the south, and the
western boundary of the Mecca Hills Wilderness to the
west. Woven together by the physical threads of
Indigenous trails that radiate outward connecting
peoples and places throughout the Southwest, the region
carries significant cultural and sacred meaning for
many Tribal Nations. The southern area is a vast and
intact expanse of austere, beautiful mountain ranges
and desert valleys stretching from the Mecca Hills and
Orocopia Mountains in the northwest, to the Mule and
Palo Verde Mountains in the northeast, and to the
mesquite-studded draws of the Milpitas Wash in the
southeast. The other four areas, which lie in the
transition zone between the Mojave and Colorado
deserts, are located at the base of the Cottonwood,
Eagle, Coxcomb, and Palen Mountains.
The imprints of generations of Indigenous peoples are
found throughout the region in the trails, tools,
habitation sites, and spectacular petroglyphs and
pictographs they left behind. The Chuckwalla region has
also been marked by the passage of people on the major
prehistoric and historic travel corridors that
connected the region to the Pacific coast and the
interior southwest. While only a small fraction of the
region has been formally inventoried, myriad cultural
resources have been documented, and there are likely
similar historic sites and objects yet to be
discovered. A few sites are well-known and easily
accessible to the public; many others are concealed in
labyrinths of rugged canyons and have not yet been
formally studied.
Trails within the area helped to link important
resources and people across the Indigenous homelands of
the Chuckwalla region. For centuries, they facilitated
trade and cultural exchange between peoples throughout
the
[[Page 6716]]
Southwest. Weaving through canyons, the trails
connected indispensable water and other resources
throughout the area. They were, and are, essential to
the people who trace their origins to these lands, and
provide a sense of connection between generations and
between the physical and spiritual worlds.
In some places, the footfalls of past generations have
etched these trails into the region's surface, wearing
a clear path into desert pavement. Ceramics and lithic
scatter are also commonly found along trail routes
within the Chuckwalla region. The endless shifting of
sand and alluvium have likely obscured artifacts in
some locations. A prehistoric travel route ran through
the core of the northern area between the Eagle and
Coxcomb Mountains, connecting the Pinto Basin, where
some of California's oldest artifacts have been found,
and the Chuckwalla Valley. The relatively narrow gap
between the Eagle and Coxcomb Mountains traversed by
the corridor also creates the conditions for flash
floods; as a result, artifacts are likely to be found
below the surface of the wash rather than on its
surface.
At least two trails that traverse the Chuckwalla region
are sacred to Tribal Nations and bind their members to
the land and to generations past. These trails, of
which physical traces remain, are both ancient and
modern, tangible places and passages that Tribes and
Indigenous peoples evoke and visit through songs and
dreams. Two versions of the Salt Song Trail pass
through the region, connecting it to Tribal communities
and sacred sites throughout the Southwest physically
and through songs describing corridors, viewsheds, and
the related geography and resources. While the Salt
Song Trail can be traveled by foot, traditional singers
also travel this trail by voice through songs passed
down across generations and that Tribes and Indigenous
peoples believe assist the transport of the spirits of
the recently deceased.
The Xam Kwatchan Trail, which parallels the Colorado
River in the vicinity of the Mule and Palo Verde
Mountains along the eastern edge of the southern area,
is maintained by the Quechan people and recognized by
many other Tribes of the Lower Colorado River. Portions
of the Xam Kwatchan Trail are still visible and may be
traveled physically as the trail weaves through the
area and links together three sacred peaks of the
Southwest: Avi Kwa Ame to the north of the Chuckwalla
region near Lake Mead, Palo Verde Peak within the
southern Chuckwalla region and overlooking the Colorado
River, and Pilot Knob to the south of the Chuckwalla
region near Yuma, Arizona. It is a belief of the
Quechan people that they also travel this trail through
dreams to transport the living and deceased, and to tie
them to these lands and to their origin at Avi Kwa Ame.
The Palo Verde and Mule Mountains encompass sites of
particular significance along this trail. The eastern
side of the Palo Verde Mountains is particularly dense
with evidence of human habitation, including trails,
camp spots, and ceremonial fire hearths.
The Chuckwalla region has no perennial streams or
lakes, but hidden within the southern area's mountain
ranges are springs and natural seasonal water
catchments (often referred to as tanks). Knowledge of
these water sources has allowed Indigenous people to
survive within this arid environment for thousands of
years. The locations surrounding these springs and
tanks are replete with artifacts, including stone
tools, ceramics, remnants of habitations, and a
dazzling array of petroglyphs and pictographs. In some
places, the patina of naturally created desert pavement
has been scraped away to form circles and images known
as geoglyphs.
In a wide canyon at the heart of the Chuckwalla
Mountains lies Corn Springs, a well-known cultural
site. Amid the mountain range's rugged peaks and dry
washes, the oasis at Corn Springs, which supports a
stand of more than 60 California fan palms, has long
been a beacon to the area's human occupants. Corn
Springs contains extensive petroglyphs encompassing a
diverse array of elements and representing
contributions by many people over thousands of years.
These petroglyphs, which are listed on the National
[[Page 6717]]
Register of Historic Places, are carved into flat
planes on the golden rocks found near Corn Springs.
Jutting from the desert floor north of Corn Springs, in
an area just south of the community of Desert Center,
sits Alligator Rock. A salient ridge containing dikes
of aplite, Alligator Rock was both a milestone on the
major Indigenous travel and trade route that passed
through Chuckwalla Valley and an important prehistoric
source of lithic materials. Flakes and tools crafted
from the area's distinctive speckled stone have been
documented in sites throughout Chuckwalla Valley.
In the eastern area, northeast of Alligator Rock and
Corn Springs and north of the Little Chuckwalla
Mountain Wilderness, Ford Dry Lake is now a sparsely
vegetated playa in the Chuckwalla Valley at the base of
the Palen and McCoy Mountains. Dense cultural sites
have been documented along the lake's ancient
shorelines, attesting to its use by generations of
Indigenous peoples. Artifacts uncovered here include a
variety of stone tools, ceramics, and other evidence of
Indigenous habitation sites.
While seemingly inhospitable to humans, the Chuckwalla
region has provided sustenance and material resources
to the Indigenous peoples who have inhabited and
traversed it for generations. Many of the region's
native plants were gathered for food, including
mesquite and ironwood seeds, wild grasses, and cacti.
Mesquite, which thrives in the dry washes of the
southern area between the Chocolate and Palo Verde
Mountains, was a particularly important source of
sustenance. Large quantities of the beans were
collected in the summer and stored for use throughout
the year. In 1972, a large ceramic olla (an earthenware
vessel) containing mesquite beans was discovered in a
rock shelter in the canyon-striated Mecca Hills of the
far western corner of the southern area.
By the mid-1800s, the Chuckwalla region had caught the
attention of non-Indigenous Americans seeking wealth in
the underbelly of its mountains. In the 1860s, the Mule
Mountains--near the California-Arizona border--were the
site of one of the first discoveries of gold in
Riverside County. Two decades later, the largest gold
rush in Riverside County's history occurred when gold
and silver were discovered in the Chuckwalla Mountains.
Relics of historic mines, including shafts, trenches,
equipment, and remnants of buildings, are present
throughout the region's mountain ranges. A mining
shaft, conveyor, and loading dock associated with the
Model Mine, which operated around the turn of the last
century, are located in the western foothills of the
Chuckwalla Mountains.
In 1862, as gold seekers spread throughout the region,
a miner named William Bradshaw sought to develop a
route to connect the Coachella Valley with expanding
mines on the east side of the Colorado River. A
Cahuilla leader and another Indigenous trail runner
provided Bradshaw with a map of existing Indigenous
routes linking springs and tanks along the southern
edge of the Orocopia, Chuckwalla, and Little Chuckwalla
Mountains. He used the knowledge shared with him of
these existing Indigenous trails to identify what
became known as the ``Bradshaw Trail,'' an overland
route that traverses the Chuckwalla Bench through the
heart of the southern area. Some of the springs and
tanks, which had long been used by Indigenous peoples,
became stagecoach stations associated with the Bradshaw
Trail. Intrepid visitors can still drive the unpaved
Bradshaw Trail, which the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) designated as a National Backcountry Byway in
1992.
In 1942, shortly after the United States entered World
War II, the Department of the Army established a
presence in the Chuckwalla region, reminders of which
can still be seen across the terrain. In March of 1942,
Major General George Patton selected a large swath of
desert in California and Nevada, including a
substantial amount of land in the Chuckwalla Valley,
for a Desert Training Center to prepare United States
Army units for desert combat. By the end of World War
II, over a million soldiers had been trained at the
facility. Small unit training exercises were held in
Chuckwalla
[[Page 6718]]
Valley, which the Army believed provided the best
approximation of terrain they might face in parts of
North Africa. The scars of tank tracks across the
southern area's desert pavement can still be seen
today, along with berms, trenches, and foxholes.
The Chuckwalla region includes the footprint of Camp
Young, the Desert Training Center's first camp and its
administrative core. Camp Young was primarily located
south of present-day Joshua Tree National Park and
north of Interstate 10 in the western area. While none
remain standing, Camp Young boasted almost 100
administrative buildings, two hospitals, 50 warehouses,
a theater, an officers' club, and a post office. Traces
of the soldiers' lives at Camp Young can still be seen
here, including rock-lined walkways and remnants of
concrete foundations.
During his tenure at the Desert Training Center,
General Patton lived at Camp Young but was in the field
on a daily basis, including to review small unit
training exercises in the Chuckwalla Valley. He would
often shout orders into a radio while observing tank
maneuvers from a hill overlooking the valley between
the Orocopia and Chuckwalla Mountains, in the center of
the Chuckwalla region's southern area. The road
bulldozed for Patton's use to the top of this hill,
known as ``The King's Throne,'' remains clearly
visible.
Against this backdrop of human history, the Chuckwalla
region's many and varied plant and animal inhabitants
have continued to persevere in the harsh desert
environment. The region provides a refuge for more than
50 rare plants and animals, as well as 21 vulnerable
vegetation communities. The diversity of biota has
attracted numerous scientists over many decades who
have conducted research into topics as varied as
testing translocation methods for bighorn sheep,
studying ant colony forming behavior, and documenting
the demographic patterns of the Orocopia sage, a shrub
with delicate lavender flowers that is only known to
grow in the Mecca Hills and Orocopia and Chocolate
Mountains.
The broad bajadas of the southern area radiate out from
a series of small mountain ranges, whose sinuous
canyons and ragged peaks provide habitat to a variety
of species. The washes and sandy slopes of the Orocopia
Mountains are home to Orocopia sage. The Mecca aster is
endemic to only a small area, with more than half of
its known occurrences located in the Mecca Hills.
Mountain areas in the Chuckwalla region are also the
only known locations of the recently described
Chuckwalla cholla, a relatively low-lying cactus with
reddish flowers.
Desert bighorn sheep, a sensitive species with
declining numbers, live year-round on the craggy slopes
of the Orocopia and Chuckwalla Mountains and are
occasionally glimpsed in the Palo Verde and Little
Chuckwalla Mountains. The broad, sandy washes that
connect the mountains--unbroken by paved roads or large
developments--provide the habitat connectivity
necessary to preserve genetic diversity among bighorn
sheep populations.
The region's expanse of gently sloping shrubby terrain
is also vital to the survival of the threatened
Agassiz's desert tortoise, encompassing key components
of an essential corridor connecting the tortoise's
Chuckwalla and Chemehuevi populations. Much of the
region is critical habitat for this charismatic desert
dweller.
Located in the southern area of the Chuckwalla region,
the Chuckwalla Bench is an elevated area of alluvial
fans that provided a setting for extensive study and
monitoring of desert tortoises for decades. It is also
home to over 150 native plant species. The specific
species present change with elevation as the bench's
slopes climb to an 80,000-acre expanse that rises to
approximately 2,000 feet in elevation, resulting in an
environment that is notably cooler and wetter than is
typical for the Sonoran Desert. At the higher
elevations, Mojave yucca and cholla become increasingly
common. The Munz's cholla, a species endemic to the
Chuckwalla Bench whose spiny, branching arms often
reach a height of six feet, grows here.
[[Page 6719]]
In part because of the relative availability of forage
and water, the Chuckwalla Bench is included in the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service's primary area
of interest for Sonoran Desert pronghorn reintroduction
in California. In 1941, around the time that the United
States Army began desert training in the area, the
endangered Sonoran Desert pronghorn was last observed
in the Colorado Desert in the vicinity of Salt Creek
Wash, which runs between the Orocopia and Chocolate
Mountains.
Dry washes in the Chuckwalla region are threaded with
populations of desert trees including ironwood, blue
palo verde, smoketree, and mesquite. These are known as
microphyll woodlands, and they provide migration
corridors for desert wildlife, as well as crucial
habitat for migratory birds. Milpitas Wash, located
south of the Palo Verde Mountains in the southern area
near the Arizona border, is one of the largest
remaining microphyll woodlands in the Colorado Desert.
It is identified as a component of the National Audubon
Society's Colorado Desert Microphyll Woodlands
Important Bird Area. Old-growth blue palo verde trees
in Milpitas Wash provide nesting cavities for an
important population of Gila woodpeckers, which are
listed as endangered under the California Endangered
Species Act. Rare long-eared owls, Crissal thrashers,
and black-tailed gnatcatchers also nest in Milpitas
Wash.
Dense pockets of palo verde microphyll woodland occur
in the northeast portion of the southern Chuckwalla
region and are reported to have the highest winter bird
densities in the California Desert. Sand dunes have
dammed several small washes in the area, creating
relatively wet conditions that are conducive to dense
vegetative growth. These sand dunes in Chuckwalla
Valley are fed by aeolian (windblown) sand transport
corridors. In addition to the rich cultural sites
associated with Ford Dry Lake, the portion of the
Chuckwalla Valley in the eastern Chuckwalla region
protects part of these sand transport corridors. The
dunes in this area also provide habitat for the rare
Mojave fringe-toed lizard.
Nightfall reveals another dimension of the Chuckwalla
region. Kit foxes and sensitive species such as
burrowing owls and elf owls emerge from dens, while a
variety of rare bats including the California leaf-
nosed bat, the western mastiff bat, and the western
yellow bat dart through the desert sky. Mountain lions
are also known to prowl the Chuckwalla region at night.
A population of mountain lions in southern California
and the central coast of California, which includes
those in the Chuckwalla region, is currently a
candidate species under consideration for listing under
the California Endangered Species Act.
The Chuckwalla region encompasses striking geologic
diversity, which both underpins the rich ecological and
cultural values and is itself the focus of extensive
research. In the far western reach of the southern area
of this region, the Mecca Hills, shaped by the unquiet
presence of the San Andreas Fault, attract not only
hikers eager to explore their intricate canyons but a
long line of geologists seeking to better understand
fault dynamics. There is an exposure of Pliocene-
Pleistocene terrestrial sedimentary rocks along the
fault, and recent uplift and erosion have allowed the
opportunity for its detailed analysis. Researchers have
analyzed the Painted Canyon Fault, which lies within
the San Andreas strike-slip fault zone in the Mecca
Hills, to better understand tectonic processes along
faults as far away as Denmark.
Just to the east of the Mecca Hills, the Orocopia
Mountains have been the site of extensive study of the
geologic mechanisms that shape the earth, including
deposition, metamorphism, uplift, and exposure. In the
late 1960s and early 1970s, the Orocopia Mountains were
the site of field training for the Apollo 13 and 15
crews, preparing them to observe and document lunar
geology.
In 1986, scientists documented five new species of
mollusks from the Eocene epoch that were found in
samples taken from the Orocopia Mountains, which helped
clarify scientists' understanding of the timing of the
westward
[[Page 6720]]
migration of Eurasian mollusk species during the early
Eocene and late Paleocene epochs. In the Palo Verde
Mountains, at the southeastern edge of the Chuckwalla
region, outcroppings of the Bouse Formation are helping
scientists unlock mysteries around the formation of the
Colorado River.
Protecting the Chuckwalla region will preserve an
important spiritual, cultural, prehistoric, and
historic legacy and protect places inscribed with
history for future generations; maintain a diverse
array of natural and scientific resources; and help
ensure that the prehistoric, historic, and scientific
resources and values of the region endure for the
benefit of all Americans. As described above, the
region contains numerous objects of historic and
scientific interest, and it provides exceptional
outdoor recreational opportunities, including hiking,
camping, backpacking, rockhounding, sightseeing, nature
study, birding, horseback riding, hunting, climbing,
mountain biking, and motorized recreation, all of which
are important to the travel- and tourism-based economy
of the region.
WHEREAS, section 320301 of title 54, United States Code
(the ``Antiquities Act''), authorizes the President, in
the President's discretion, to declare by public
proclamation historic landmarks, historic and
prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic
or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands
owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be
national monuments, and to reserve as a part thereof
parcels of land, the limits of which shall be confined
to the smallest area compatible with the proper care
and management of the objects to be protected; and
WHEREAS, the Chuckwalla region has been profoundly
sacred to Tribal Nations and Indigenous peoples with
ties to the Colorado and Mojave Deserts since time
immemorial; and
WHEREAS, it is in the public interest both to ensure
the preservation, restoration, and protection of the
objects of scientific and historic interest identified
above and to advance renewable energy in Development
Focus Areas (DFAs) that were identified by the Desert
Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) as of the
date of this proclamation; and
WHEREAS, I find that all the objects identified above,
and objects of the type identified above within the
area described herein, are objects of historic or
scientific interest in need of protection under section
320301 of title 54, United States Code, regardless of
whether they are expressly identified as objects of
historic or scientific interest in the text of this
proclamation; and
WHEREAS, I find that there are threats to the objects
identified in this proclamation, and, in the absence of
a reservation under the Antiquities Act, the objects
identified in this proclamation are not adequately
protected by applicable law or administrative
designations, thus making a national monument
designation and reservation necessary to protect the
objects of historic and scientific interest identified
above for current and future generations; and
WHEREAS, I find that the boundaries of the monument
reserved by this proclamation represent the smallest
area compatible with the proper care and management of
the objects of historic or scientific interest
identified above, as required by the Antiquities Act;
and
WHEREAS, it is in the public interest to ensure the
preservation, restoration, and protection of the
objects of historic and scientific interest identified
above;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by the authority vested
in me by section 320301 of title 54, United States
Code, hereby proclaim the objects identified above that
are situated upon lands and interests in lands owned or
controlled by the Federal Government to be the
Chuckwalla National Monument (monument) and, for the
purpose of protecting those objects, reserve as part
thereof all lands and interests in lands that are owned
or controlled by the Federal
[[Page 6721]]
Government within the boundaries described on the
accompanying map, which is attached hereto and forms a
part of this proclamation. These reserved Federal lands
and interests in lands encompass approximately 624,270
acres. As a result of the distribution of the objects
across the Chuckwalla region, the boundaries described
on the accompanying map are confined to the smallest
area compatible with the proper care and management of
the objects of historic or scientific interest
identified above.
All Federal lands and interests in lands within the
boundaries of the monument are hereby appropriated and
withdrawn from all forms of entry, location, selection,
sale, or other disposition under the public land laws,
other than by exchange that furthers the protective
purposes of the monument or that facilitates the
remediation, monitoring, or reclamation of historic
mining operations on public or private land within the
monument boundary; from location, entry, and patent
under the mining laws; and from disposition under all
laws relating to mineral and geothermal leasing.
The establishment of the monument is subject to valid
existing rights. If the Federal Government subsequently
acquires any lands or interests in lands not currently
owned or controlled by the Federal Government within
the boundaries described on the accompanying map, such
lands and interests in lands shall be reserved as a
part of the monument, and objects of the type
identified above that are situated upon those lands and
interests in lands shall be part of the monument, upon
acquisition of ownership or control by the Federal
Government.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to
alter the valid existing water rights of any party,
including the United States, or to alter or affect
agreements governing the management and administration
of the Colorado River, including any existing
interstate water compact. This proclamation does not
reserve water as a matter of Federal law.
The Secretary of the Interior (Secretary), through the
BLM, shall manage the monument pursuant to applicable
legal authorities, as a unit of the National Landscape
Conservation System, and in accordance with the terms,
conditions, and management direction provided by this
proclamation.
For purposes of protecting and restoring the objects
identified above, the Secretary shall within 3 years
from the date of this proclamation prepare a management
plan for the monument and shall promulgate such rules
and regulations for the management of the monument as
deemed appropriate. The Secretary, through the BLM,
shall consult with other Federal land management
agencies or agency components in the local area,
including the Bureau of Reclamation, Department of
Defense, and National Park Service, in developing the
management plan.
The Secretary shall provide for maximum public
involvement in the development of the management plan,
as well as consultation with Tribal Nations affiliated
culturally or historically with the Chuckwalla Region
and conferral with State and local governments. In
preparing the management plan, the Secretary shall take
into account, to the maximum extent practicable,
maintaining the undeveloped character of the lands
within the monument; minimizing impacts from surface-
disturbing activities; providing appropriate and, where
consistent with the proper care and management of the
objects of historic or scientific interest identified
above, improving access for recreation, hunting,
dispersed camping, wildlife management, scientific
research, and the permissible casual collection of
rocks; and emphasizing the retention of natural quiet,
dark night skies, and scenic attributes of the region.
The Secretary shall consider appropriate mechanisms to
provide for temporary closures to the general public of
specific portions of the monument to protect the
privacy of cultural, religious, and gathering
activities of members of Tribal Nations.
The Secretary, through the BLM, shall establish an
advisory committee under chapter 10 of title 5, United
States Code (commonly known as the Federal Advisory
Committee Act), to provide advice or recommendations
regarding
[[Page 6722]]
the development of the management plan and, as
appropriate, management of the monument. The advisory
committee shall consist of a fair and balanced
representation of interested stakeholders, including
State agencies and local governments; Tribal Nations;
recreational users; conservation organizations; the
scientific community; the renewable energy and electric
utility industry; and the general public in the region.
In recognition of the value of collaboration with
Tribal Nations for the proper care and management of
the objects identified above and to ensure that
management of the monument is informed by, integrates,
and reflects Tribal expertise and Indigenous Knowledge,
as appropriate, the Secretary shall meaningfully engage
with Tribal Nations with cultural or historical
affiliation to the Chuckwalla region, including by
seeking opportunities for co-stewardship of the
monument.
If Tribal Nations with cultural or historical
affiliation to the Chuckwalla region independently
establish a commission or other similar entity
(commission) comprised of elected officers or official
designees from each participating Tribal Nation to
engage in co-stewardship of the monument with the
Federal Government through shared responsibilities or
administration, then the Secretary shall meaningfully
engage the commission in the development, revision, or
amendment of the management plan and the management of
the monument, including by considering and, as
appropriate, integrating the Indigenous Knowledge and
special expertise of the members of the commission in
the planning and management of the monument. The
management plan for the monument shall also set forth
parameters for continued meaningful engagement with the
commission, if established, in the implementation of
the management plan and, as appropriate, incorporate
public education on and interpretation of traditional
place names and the cultural significance of land
within the monument. The Secretary shall explore
opportunities to provide support to the commission, if
established, to enable participation in the planning
and management of the monument.
The Secretary shall also explore entering into
cooperative agreements or contracts, pursuant to the
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act,
25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq. or other applicable authorities,
with Tribes or Tribal organizations to perform
administrative or management functions within the
monument and providing technical and financial
assistance to improve the capacity of Tribal Nations to
develop, enter into, and carry out activities under
such cooperative agreements or contracts. The Secretary
also shall explore opportunities for funding agreements
with Tribal Nations relating to the management and
protection of traditional cultural properties and other
culturally significant programming associated with the
monument.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to alter,
modify, abrogate, enlarge, or diminish the rights or
jurisdiction of any Tribal Nation, including off-
reservation reserved rights. The Secretary shall, to
the maximum extent permitted by law and in consultation
with Tribal Nations, ensure the protection of sacred
sites and cultural properties and sites in the monument
and shall provide access to Tribal members for
traditional cultural, spiritual, and customary uses,
consistent with the American Indian Religious Freedom
Act (42 U.S.C. 1996), the Religious Freedom Restoration
Act (42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.), Executive Order 13007
of May 24, 1996 (Indian Sacred Sites), and the November
10, 2021, Memorandum of Understanding Regarding
Interagency Coordination and Collaboration for the
Protection of Indigenous Sacred Sites. Such uses shall
include, but are not limited to, the collection of
medicines, berries, plants, and other vegetation for
cradle boards and other purposes, and firewood for
ceremonial practices and personal noncommercial use, so
long as each use is carried out consistent with
applicable law and in a manner consistent with the
proper care and management of the objects identified
above. The Secretary shall endeavor to prepare an
ethnographic study and cultural resources survey of the
monument to assess the importance of the land to Tribal
Nations affiliated culturally
[[Page 6723]]
or historically with the Chuckwalla Region and the
religious, spiritual, and cultural practices of
culturally affiliated Tribal Nations.
The Secretary shall explore mechanisms, consistent with
applicable law, to enable the protection of Indigenous
Knowledge or other information relating to the nature
and specific location of cultural resources within the
monument and, to the extent practicable, shall explain
to the holders of such knowledge or information any
limitations on the ability to protect such information
from disclosure before it is shared with the BLM.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to
preclude the renewal or assignment of, or interfere
with the operation, maintenance, replacement,
modification, upgrade, or access to, existing or
previously approved flood control, utility, pipeline,
and telecommunications sites or facilities; roads or
highway corridors; seismic monitoring facilities;
wildlife management structures installed by the BLM or
the State of California; or water infrastructure,
including wildlife water developments or water district
facilities, within the boundaries of existing or
previously approved authorizations within the monument.
Existing or previously approved flood control, utility
(including electric transmission and distribution),
pipeline, telecommunications, and seismic monitoring
facilities; roads or highway corridors; wildlife
management structures installed by the BLM or the State
of California; and water infrastructure, including
wildlife water developments or water district
facilities, may be expanded, and new facilities of such
kind may be constructed, to the extent consistent with
the proper care and management of the objects
identified above and subject to the Secretary's
authorities, other applicable law, and the provisions
of this proclamation related to roads and trails.
For purposes of protecting and restoring the objects
identified above, the Secretary shall prepare a
transportation plan that designates the roads and
trails on which motorized and non-motorized mechanized
vehicle use will be allowed. The transportation plan
shall include management decisions necessary to protect
the objects identified in this proclamation. Except for
emergency purposes and authorized administrative
purposes, including management activities by
appropriate California State agencies to maintain,
enhance, or restore fish and wildlife populations and
habitats, which are otherwise consistent with
applicable law, motorized vehicle use in the monument
may be permitted only on roads and trails documented as
existing in BLM route inventories that exist as of the
date of this proclamation. Any additional roads or
trails designated for motorized vehicle use by the
general public must be designated only for public
safety needs or if necessary for the protection of the
objects identified above.
Livestock grazing has not been permitted in the
monument area since 2002, and the Secretary shall not
issue any new grazing permits or leases on such lands.
Nothing in this proclamation shall affect the BLM's
ability to authorize access to and remediation or
monitoring of contaminated lands within the monument,
including for remediation of unexploded ordnance and
mine, mill, or tailing sites or for the restoration of
natural resources.
Nothing in this proclamation shall preclude low-level
overflights of military aircraft, the landing of
military aircraft in accordance with aviation safety
regulations in landing zones that have been or are
designated in the future, military flight testing or
evaluation, the designation of new units of special use
airspace, the use of existing or the establishment of
new military flight training routes, or low-level
overflights and landings of aircraft by the BLM or its
contractors for scientific or resource management
purposes. Nothing in this proclamation shall preclude
the use of land within the monument for military
training, or preclude air or ground access to existing
or new electronic tracking or communications sites
associated with special use airspace and military
flight training routes, after appropriate coordination
between the Department of Defense and the Department of
the Interior.
[[Page 6724]]
As this monument is located near DFAs identified by the
DRECP and is consistent with the goals of that plan,
nothing in this proclamation shall be interpreted to
require denial of proposals for renewable energy
projects that are in DFAs identified by the DRECP and
that comply with all applicable legal requirements.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge
or diminish the jurisdiction or authority of the State
of California with respect to fish and wildlife
management, including hunting and fishing, on the lands
reserved by this proclamation. The Secretary shall seek
to develop and implement science-based habitat and
ecological restoration projects within the monument and
shall seek to collaborate with the State of California
on wildlife management within the monument, including
through the development of new, or the continuation of
existing, agreements with the California Department of
Fish and Wildlife.
The Secretary shall evaluate opportunities to enter
into one or more agreements with governments, including
State, local, and Tribal, regarding the protection of
the objects identified above during wildland fire
prevention and response efforts. Nothing in this
proclamation shall be construed to alter the authority
or responsibility of any party with respect to
emergency response activities within the monument,
including wildland fire response.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to limit
the authority of the Secretary, consistent with
applicable law, to undertake or authorize activities
for the purpose of ensuring safe and continued
recreational access to canyons in the Mecca Hills
Wilderness.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to revoke
any existing withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation;
however, the monument shall be the dominant
reservation.
Warning is hereby given to all unauthorized persons not
to appropriate, injure, destroy, or remove any feature
of the monument and not to locate or settle upon any of
the lands thereof.
If any provision of this proclamation, including its
application to a particular parcel of land, is held to
be invalid, the remainder of this proclamation and its
application to other parcels of land shall not be
affected thereby.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
fourteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
ninth.
(Presidential Sig.)
Billing code 3395-F4-P
[[Page 6725]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD17JA25.114
[FR Doc. 2025-01441
Filed 1-16-25; 11:15 am]
Billing code 4310-10-C