Chuckwalla National Monument
EST. JAN 14, 2025
Our desert is incredibly rich in biodiversity, with each mountain range and valley home to unique plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth. The NEW Chuckwalla National Monument helps protect and connect these ‘islands’ of diversity, creating vital climate refugia and building resilience in the face of warming temperatures, increased drought, and habitat loss.
The Chuckwalla National Monument is the largest protected area of the unique Colorado Desert community, preserving hundreds of thousands of acres for the people, plants, and animals that call the California Deserts home.
Our Involvement
CactusToCloud Institute has been a member of the Protect California Deserts coalition since the Fall of 2021. Together with other local, regional, and national partners, we advocated for the destination of Chukwalla National Monument, which protects vital public lands in Riverside and Imperial Counties. These lands showcase diverse landscapes, and permanently protecting them is part of our vision for greater equity and inclusion in our desert and for building climate resilience in the Coachella Valley.
Since joining the coalition, we have focused on educating our community and building ongoing support for the monument. We contribute our expertise in desert ecology and local insights by engaging with local, state, federal, and tribal representatives, as well as the broader Coachella Valley community, both on the ground and in the air.
We have played a key role in helping our community, local elected leaders, and regional and national partners discover the beauty of the desert. We have led hikes in the monument, coordinated aerial tours with our partners at EcoFlight, and delivered numerous virtual and in-person presentations year after year for those eager to learn more about the Chuckwalla National Monument. All of which have been offered at no cost, in both English and Spanish, to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to learn more about our desert and enjoy the physical and mental health benefits it provides.
Our commitment to conservation goes well beyond protecting the environment; we are passionately investing in the future of our planet by empowering the next generation of conservationists. We proudly self-funded and hosted two local Coachella Valley youth to participate in the Chuckwalla Youth Ambassador program. As part of the ambassador program, they received invaluable training and hands-on experience in protecting our public lands. Both are also graduates of our Nuestro Desierto California Naturalist course.
On March 15, 2025, we took swift action in response to the current administration's potential threat to the Chuckwalla National Monument. We were the only non-profit organization in the Coachella Valley to not only take a public stand but also to help organize and support the on-the-ground efforts of Resistance Rangers Joshua Tree. This collaboration led to the first “Rally & Learn” event in the Coachella Valley, aimed at promoting awareness and support for Chuckwalla National Monument, National Parks, park staff, and all public lands.
We are committed to advocating for Chuckwalla National Monument and our desert at local, state, and national levels. If protecting public lands matters to you, please support our efforts by making a tax deductible donating to CactusToCloud Institute. Your contribution will help us protect Chuckwalla National Monument and Our Desert for everyone to enjoy. Thank you for your support and for making a positive impact!
What You Should Know
The boundary of the Chuckwalla National Monument is within the traditional homeland of the Cahuilla, Quechan, Serrano, Chemehuevi, and Mojave peoples.
Chuckwalla National Monument does not prohibit legal recreational activities such as hiking, camping, hunting, or traveling on designated off-highway vehicle routes.
Establishing the Chuckwalla National Monument in the eastern Coachella Valley was the right decision, and it will provide our community with numerous opportunities and advantages. Learn more below!
Community Benefits
Scroll or swipe to explore
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Honoring Culture
The Chuckwalla National Monument will ensure the traditions, sacred sites, trails, and plant and animal relatives in this cultural landscape are protected in a manner that respects Tribal priorities and sovereignty.
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Climate Resilience
The Chuckwalla National Monument will protect wildlife corridors for the movement of animals and plants, and climate refugia to preserve islands of biodiversity in a changing environment. Undisturbed desert soils account for almost 10 percent of our state's carbon storage, capturing CO2 from the air and helping to avoid climate change. Alluvial fans channel flash floods to the desert floor and filter water into underground aquifers.
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Protecting Wildlife
The Chuckwalla National Monument will protect unique and rare desert plants such as the Mecca Aster, Orocopia Sage, and Chuckwalla Cholla, many found nowhere else on Earth
Critical habitat for wildlife like the desert bighorn sheep, desert tortoise, burro deer, migratory birds, and many other imperiled species will also be preserved.
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Equitable Access
Permanently protecting the Chuckwalla National Monument is an opportunity to ensure these places are here for current and future generations to experience and enjoy.
Free and low-cost recreational opportunities would continue to be available, and could be improved, especially near the communities of the Eastern Coachella Valley.
Much of the proposed monument is only accessible via a network of designated off highway vehicle (OHV) routes. This access will continue once the monument is designated.
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Benefiting Local Economy
Protected landscapes provide economic benefits to surrounding communities by attracting tourism and improving quality of life.
Studies have shown a 10% increase in businesses and 8.5% increase in jobs near protected areas in the western US.
Joshua Tree National Park brings $121,857,000 to local economies, 1,512 jobs, and $60,065,000 in income annually. Designating Chuckwalla National Monument will bring these types of benefits to the Eastern Coachella Valley.
How can you help?
On Saturday, 3/15, the New York Times and the Washington Post reported that a White House fact sheet signaled attempts to terminate protections for nearly 1 million acres of recently protected public lands in California. The statement, though quickly deleted, raises alarms for the potential of an illegal action to try to remove Chuckwalla National Monument's protected status.
This uncertainty gives us a window to do everything in our power to protect the important resources and values our public lands hold. Many of you have asked what you can do next, and we have a list of steps you can take if you care about access to public lands, building climate resilience, and protecting cultural, historic, and wildlife areas in our desert.
Make your voice heard by signing our petition HERE. Are you a local community group, club, or business owner who wants to express their support for Chuckwalla National Monument? Contact us for more info on how to submit a letter of support.
Reach out to your local senator and congressional representative to express why supporting Chuckwalla National Monument matters deeply to you and ask them to publically support Chuckwalla National Monument.
Help support our advocacy efforts by making a tax-deductible donation today by visiting www.cactustocloud.org/donate
