At the 2023 Conservation in Action Summit yesterday, President Joe Biden used his power under the Antiquities Act to designate Avi Kwa Ame and Castner Range national monuments, protecting more than 500,000 acres of U.S. land and honoring the requests of Tribal Nations, including the Fort Mojave Tribe, one of the leaders of the campaign to protect the area surrounding Avi Kwa Ame.
“When we think about protection, we think of it through a lens of respect,” said Ashley Hemmers, tribal administrator for the Fort Mojave Tribe. “And so if we can teach those things to people who are now moving in this space, then it’s not just ours, the mountain isn’t just for Mojave, it’s for everyone to protect.”
Biden also announced a memorandum directing Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to establish marine sanctuary protections for all waters surrounding the Pacific Remote Islands—777,000 square miles of waters southwest of Hawaii. These protections will fulfill the President’s goal of protecting 30 percent of America’s oceans.
Finally, Biden announced a new initiative to conserve, restore, and expand access to lands and waters through various proposals, including modernizing the management of America’s public lands, a plan to harness the power of the ocean to fight the climate crisis, a strategy to better conserve wildlife corridors, new funding for outdoor recreation access and wildfire risk reduction, and more. His plan to harness the power of the ocean is known as the Ocean Climate Action Plan, led by the Ocean Policy Committee (OPC). According to a new report, the OPC’s goals include creating a carbon-neutral future, accelerating solutions that tap the power of the ocean to absorb and store greenhouse gases, and enhancing community resilience to ocean change.
New Podcast Episode
On the latest installment of The Landscape, Center for Western Priorities Campaigns and Special Projects Director Lauren Bogard and Executive Director Jen Rokala join Kate to talk about the new monuments and what made the campaigns to protect both Avi Kwa Ame and Castner Range so successful.
Quick hits
Biden designates Avi Kwa Ame and Castner Range national monuments
Our country’s natural treasures define our identity as a nation. They’re a birthright—they’re a birthright we have to pass down to generation after generation. They unite us.”
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June 8 marks the 117th anniversary of one of America’s bedrock conservation laws, the Antiquities Act. Since it first became law in 1906, 18 presidents of both parties have used the Antiquities Act to designate 161 national monuments — many of which are now national parks. The Act grants the president the authority to permanently protect places with […]
Protections establish strong presidential conservation legacy, lay groundwork for achieving 30 by 30 goal From protecting over half a million acres of public land in Nevada to all of the waters around the Pacific Remote Islands, President Joe Biden embraced conservation and moved the country closer to protecting 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters […]
DENVER—President Joe Biden will sign proclamations today creating Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in southern Nevada and Castner Range National Monument just outside of El Paso, Texas. The Avi Kwa Ame designation follows a pledge to protect the area made by President Biden at the 2022 Tribal Nations Summit hosted by the White House. These designations mark […]
The President promised Tribal leaders he would protect this sacred Nevada landscape. What is he waiting for? It’s been 100 days since President Joe Biden promised he would protect a large swath of Mojave Desert in southern Nevada called Avi Kwa Ame that is sacred to multiple tribes, including the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe and the Hopi Tribe. […]
The community of El Paso has pushed to conserve this former weapons testing range for decades Last week, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland visited Castner Range, a 7,081 acre former Army munitions range that is beloved by residents of both El Paso, Texas and nearby Ciudad Juarez, Mexico for its natural beauty, as well as its […]
Our country’s natural treasures define our identity as a nation. They’re a birthright—they’re a birthright we have to pass down to generation after generation. They unite us.”