Letter from UCLA Student Organizations in Support of the Establishment of Kw’tsán National Monument

 As UCLA students in ecologically, culturally, and health-focused clubs, we are writing to express our support for the proposed Kw'tsán National Monument designation and for land stewardship under Native American conversancy groups. Please read this letter to understand why we need to place this area under federal and Indigenous protection. As our country faces increasing environmental threats and species extinction, partnering with Indigenous peoples will help to strengthen our connection to these lands, enriching our native California environments and ecosystems. Indigenous leadership is crucial to implementing traditional, cultural knowledge into our conservational projects. Only with the help of native peoples can we utilize deep, regional expertise and thousands of years of lived experience. It is urgent for us to push for National Monument designation so we can protect hundreds of thousands of acres of native land and its inhabitants. 

On behalf of the students of the UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, we stand united with the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe’s request for the national monument protections of their sacred homelands managed by the Bureau of Land Management in Imperial County, California. As the voice representing UCLA’s environmentally conscious students, your leadership is needed to protect the valuable cultural and historical connections to the land, as well as the vital water and ecological resources the region contains. We urge you to recognize the importance of these protection efforts by establishing the Kw'tsán National Monument. 

 

The Kw'tsán National Monument would encompass over 390,000 acres of the Quechan Indian Tribe’s ancestral lands and would safeguard their cultural values, belief systems, trail systems and traditional practices, while also providing essential protections for wildlife, water, native plants, and scenic vistas. The Tribe is also requesting that an inter-governmental stewardship agreement be established for this monument so that Indigenous peoples are properly involved in future land management planning on their homelands. The Colorado River is the lifeblood of Quechan culture and is deeply rooted in the Tribe’s history, cultural practices and wellbeing. Clean and abundant water is also essential for the health of the overall ecosystem. As climate change impacts the region through extreme drought and unsustainable water extraction, the balance and health of the region is at stake. Protecting the lands surrounding the Colorado River will reduce threats to the water resources, and in turn provide more habitat stability for plants and wildlife. Living in the SoCal region, we understand the threat of severe droughts, which have destroyed our local river ecosystems and caused ongoing water supply shortages. By allowing the Quechan Indian Tribes to safeguard and control these resources, as they have historically done for decades, we would help protect our California rivers and support a sustainable future.

Native wildlife, including endangered species, share this sacred landscape alongside the Quechan community. Species such as roadrunners, woodhouse toads, desert tortoises, Yuma kingsnakes, black-tailed jackrabbits, kit foxes, roundtail ground squirrels, chuckwalla, and countless others are all crucial parts of the environment. Native plants, including the desert agave, saguaro, desert milkweed, algodones dunes sunflower, arroweed, sand food, desert devil's claw, chocolate mountains coldenia, munz's and wiggins cholla, and the yellow palo verde also call the region home. The Colorado River boundary to the east is a critical bird migration flyzone and broader wildlife corridor that - if protected - would link together the region as a whole. By establishing the Kw'tsán National Monument, these ecosystems of California, Arizona, and Mexico would be better protected. Under this protection by indigenous peoples, the native flora and fauna would be able to flourish, effectively restoring these ecosystems for future generations to experience. Here at UCLA, many of our classes and clubs benefit from studying these species and their native ecosystems through enriching field trips. This experiential learning and exposure to traditional indigenous knowledge is the basis for understanding environmental conservation, psychology, and even medicine. 

The lands proposed for Kw'tsán National Monument are an integral part of the greater cultural landscape, connecting Avikwalal, Cargo Muchacho Mountains, Indian Pass, the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument and Avi Kwa Ame (Spirit Mountain) National Monument. These cultural areas cover the expanse of California, Arizona, and Mexico, showing the vastness of the national monument’s potential impact in effective environmental conservation. The entire desert corridor along the Colorado River is important to many Tribal Nations. The monument boundaries encompass sacred sites, scenic features, and critical environmental areas, including the Indian Pass Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), Pilot Knob (Avikwalal), Singer Geoglyphs (ACEC), Buzzards Peak, and Picacho Peak Wilderness areas. The monument’s new and innovative management plan will also create an opportunity to better balance the preservation of cultural values with beloved recreational activities like hiking, camping, rockhounding and off-highway vehicle (OHV) use.

Designating the Kw'tsán National Monument will prevent the encroachment of harmful activities including new mining claims and large-scale industrial development. The Tribe and its conservation partners have worked for decades to defend these lands and our communities from extractive activities that harm the public health of all Americans. Our support in turn will honor the Tribe's longstanding efforts to preserve their ancestral homelands and ensure that future generations can continue to practice their time-honored traditions. It will also ensure we protect the conservation values my organization and our members hold dear. UCLA ecologically focussed students and organizations join the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe in the request for national monument protections and we urge you to take swift action. 

Signed,

UCLA Ecology and Environmental Biology students

CC:

Senator Alex Padilla

Senator Laphonza Butler

Secretary Deb Haaland, Department of the Interior

Chair Brenda Mallory, Council on Environmental Quality