NPR: Future of the newest national monuments looks murky after White House communication
The Trump administration has sparked confusion over the future of two national monuments in California that President Biden designated before he left office. Biden established Chuckwalla National Monument and Sáttítla Highlands National Monument on Jan. 14, protecting land considered sacred by area tribes.
The confusion started on March 14 when President Trump issued an executive order rescinding several Biden-era actions. That order did not mention the monuments, but on the same day, the White House issued a fact sheet that called for terminating nearly a million acres that "constitute new national monuments that lock up vast amounts of land from economic development and energy production." That language was later removed.
MDLT Executive Director Kelly Herbinson: “We really need to be thoughtful about protecting big, big swaths of nature, whatever is left, so that we can maintain that ecosystem function for humans to be able to survive.”