President Joe Biden signed a proclamation Tuesday to protect more than 800,000 acres of tribal land in California, including in parts of the North State.
President Biden designated the Sáttítla Highlands in Siskiyou County and Chuckwalla in Riverside and Imperial counties as National Monuments. The Pit River Tribe and Modoc Peoples are the original inhabitants of the Sáttítla Highlands. The new monument is centered around the Medicine Lake Volcano.
According to a press release from the White House, the designation of these national lands will “protect clean water for communities, honor areas of cultural significance to Tribal Nations and Indigenous peoples, and enhance access to nature.”
Tribal leaders in the Siskiyou region have been working hard to protect these lands. The Pit River Tribe called on President Biden to designate the Sáttítla Highlands as a National Monument back in November, 2023.
The dormant Medicine Lake Volcano is about ten times the size of Mount St. Helens. It’s home to one of the longest systems of lava tubes found on Earth so far.
The landscape of the Sáttítla is at the center of the Pit River Tribe’s creation narrative, according to Tribal Chairman Yatch Bamford. Bamford said in an address to President Biden that the aquifer underneath provides clean water to millions of people in Northern California.
The Sáttítla Highlands National Monument will be managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
