Presidential Documents

6715 

Federal Register 

Vol. 90, No. 11 

Friday, January 17, 2025 

Title 3— 

The President 

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 ‘‘cˇa ́xwal,’’ the Chuckwalla region 

is a place of wonder that lies within the traditional homelands of the 

Iviatim (Cahuilla), Nu ̈ wu ̈ (Chemehuevi), Pipa Aha Macav (Mojave), Kwatsa ́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 


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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 


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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 nonIndigenous 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 


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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 yearround 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. 


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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 


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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 


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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 


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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 


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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. 


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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 fortyninth. 

Billing code 3395–F4–P 


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[FR Doc. 2025–01441 

Filed 1–16–25; 11:15 am] 

Billing code 4310–10–C 


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