California Lawmakers Seek to Expand Joshua Tree National Park, Create New National Monument

Three California lawmakers introduced a bill in Congress April 16 to expand Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California. The authors, U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) and Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Palm Desert), also urged President Joe Biden to use his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to designate the Chuckwalla National Monument in eastern Imperial and Riverside counties. Joshua Tree National Monument, located in the Southern California desert about 40 miles north of Palm Springs, was created in 1936. The monument was expanded to nearly 800,000 acres and elevated to national park status in 1994. The proposed bill would expand the park by about 18,000 acres of previously designated public lands....