Home » » Tribal-Led National Monument Proposal, Kw’tsán
Tribal-Led National Monument Proposal, Kw’tsán
Date: 10/15/2024
State: AZ
Issues: Climate, Mining, Watersheds, Wild Lands, Wildlife
Airport Origin : Yuma, AZ
Mission
The Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribal Council called on us to provide overflights to Congressman Raul Ruiz's staff, California state agency officials, conservationists, KPBS, leaders at Western Mesquite Mines, and electeds from the City of Calipatria and Brawley to advance this campaign to protect the proposed Kw'tsán National Monument.
In early February 2024, the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe called on President Biden to protect their ancestral homelands in California through a national monument designation. We flew over the proposed Kw'tsán National Monument, viewing portions of the gorgeous 390,000 acres that could be protected, creating continuous, safeguarded habitat through Avi Kwa Ame, Avi Kwa Lal, Palo Verde Peak, and the proposed Chuckwalla National Monument. The landscape is rich in historical and cultural resources, and remains central to the Quechan Tribe’s spiritual practices, being a place where song and religious ceremonies are held and where sacred sites, trail systems, artifacts, and petroglyphs connect the Tribe to their ancestors and beliefs. A national monument designation would preserve habitat and wildlife corridors for diverse species many of which are endangered, including the Desert Tortoise, Woodhouse's Toad, roadrunner, black-tailed jackrabbit, kit grebe chuckwalla, coyote, and birds who utilize the critical bird migration flyway located on the eastern side of the proposed monument.
Currently, this area is without proper and meaningful protections and in the past century, has been scarred by multiple mining projects and harmful industrial development. The Kw'tsán landscape continues to be threatened - earlier this year, the massive Oro Cruz gold exploration project inside the proposed national monument boundary was denied, a massive victory in the Quechan Tribe’s fight to protect their ancestral homelands.
We created these videos with the Tribe to showcase the overwhelming aesthetic, ecological, and cultural values of the Kw'tsán landscape. They are free for your advocacy use - please share and credit EcoFlight.
Thank you for working to protect this sacred landscape, its wildlife and water. EcoFlight will continue to fly in support of Kw'tsán National Monument's designation and the preservation of California’s public lands.
