California Lawmakers Push For Expansion Of Joshua Tree National Park And For New Chuckwalla Mountains National Monument

CHIRIACO SUMMIT, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 24: In an aerial view, rock formations that resemble many in Joshua Tree National Park, to the north, are seen in the proposed Chuckwalla Mountains National Monument on April 24, 2024 near Chiriaco Summit, California. About one thousand square miles of desert are to be protected by the proposed 627,855-acre Chuckwalla Mountains National Monument plus a 17,000-acre expansion of the nearby, increasingly crowded, Joshua Tree National Park. The proposal is unique in that it gives Indigenous tribes the power to co-manage Chuckwalla Mountains National Monument alongside the federal Bureau of Land Management. The boundaries consist include huge pristine desert wilderness areas, hundreds of miles of Jeep trails, and is home to endangered and threatened animals such as desert tortoises and desert bighorn sheep. Sacred indigenous lands and ancient rock art as old as10,000 years would have increased protections. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)