Interior holds hearing on possible California monument

By Scott Streater | 06/17/2024 01:31 PM EDT

Visits by high-ranking administration officials signal interest from President Joe Biden.

Corn Springs Campground is located deep in a canyon of the Chuckwalla Mountains.

The Corn Springs Campground, located in a canyon of the Chuckwalla Mountains, is one site that advocates want included in a proposed Chuckwalla National Monument in California. Kyle Sullivan/Bureau of Land Management/Flickr

The Biden administration continues to signal that it’s seriously evaluating a potential new national monument proposal in Southern California.

Senior officials with the Interior Department, including Bureau of Land Management Director Tracy Stone-Manning, attended a community meeting Friday to gather feedback on the possible designation of the Chuckwalla National Monument.

The hearing — also attended by Laura Daniel-Davis, Interior’s acting deputy secretary — was held at the Riverside County Fairgrounds and drew about 700 people, most of whom spoke in favor of the new monument, according to advocates who attended.

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BLM confirmed that Daniel-Davis and Stone-Manning attended the hearing.

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