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Avi Kwa Ame National Monument

Avi Kwa Ame National Monument (/əˌviːkwəˈɑːmeɪ/ ə-VEE kwə AH-may;[1][2] Mojave: ʔaviː kʷaʔame, "highest mountain", from ʔaviː, "mountain, rock", and ʔamay, "up, above")[3][4] is a national monument that protects approximately 506,000 acres (2,050 km2) of the Mojave Desert in southern Nevada. President Joe Biden established it as a monument under the authority of the Antiquities Act on March 21, 2023.[5][6] It is named for Avi Kwa Ame, also known as Spirit Mountain, which is visible from most of the monument and is considered sacred as the site of creation by the Yuman tribes.[7] Most of the monument is managed by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the National Conservation Lands, and the National Park Service manages the portion within Lake Mead National Recreation Area.[8]

Avi Kwa Ame National Monument
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
Summit area of Spirit Mountain (Avi Kwa Ame)
Map showing the location of Avi Kwa Ame National Monument
Map showing the location of Avi Kwa Ame National Monument
Avi Kwa Ame National Monument
Map showing the location of Avi Kwa Ame National Monument
Map showing the location of Avi Kwa Ame National Monument
Avi Kwa Ame National Monument
LocationClark County, Nevada, United States
Nearest citySearchlight, Nevada
Coordinates35°24′N 115°00′W / 35.4°N 115°W / 35.4; -115
Area506,814 acres (2,051.00 km2)
EstablishedMarch 21, 2023
Governing bodyBureau of Land Management

Geography

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The area protected includes portions of the Newberry Mountains, Eldorado Mountains, New York Mountains, McCullough Range, and Dead Mountains, as well as most of the Piute Valley and Eldorado Valley which separate them. The monument surrounds excluded areas around the towns of Searchlight, Palm Gardens and Cal-Nev-Ari, Nevada.[9]

The monument includes all of the Spirit Mountain, South McCullough, Wee Thump Joshua Tree, Nellis Wash, and Bridge Canyon wilderness areas and a portion of Ireteba Peaks Wilderness.[10] It borders Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Mojave Trails National Monument, Mojave National Preserve, and Castle Mountains National Monument thereby creating a much larger contiguously protected area of the Mojave Desert.[11]

The Hiko Springs and Grapevine Canyon areas have Native American petroglyphs, some of which have already been worn off.[12][13]

The Mojave Road section of the Old Spanish National Historic Trail passes through the monument.

Flora and fauna

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Wee Thump Joshua Tree Wilderness
See also: Mojave Desert § Ecology

Significant species that live in the desert include desert bighorn sheep, desert tortoise, and golden eagles.[14] The Mojave Desert has more than 200 endemic plants.[7] A significant habitat of the Joshua Tree is in the western portion of the monument.[10] The majority of the area (330,000 acres) was designated as the Piute/Eldorado Area of Critical Environmental Concern in 1996 to conserve critical habitat for the threatened desert tortoise.[15][16]

National monument designation

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The Fort Mojave Indian Tribe has long advocated for the protection of the region's natural and cultural resources.[10] Spirit Mountain was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. After a proposed large-scale wind farm faced opposition from local Searchlight residents, residents and tribal groups began a push for national monument designation in 2020.[7] The Clark County Commission voted unanimously to support the monument. In February 2022 U.S. Representative Dina Titus introduced a bill that would have designated Avi Kwa Ame as a national monument.[17][18] Interior Secretary Deb Haaland visited the area to discuss the region's significance in September,[19] before BLM director Tracy Stone-Manning hosted a town hall meeting in November.[13] On November 30, 2022, President Biden announced to attendees of the White House Tribal Nations Summit that he was committed to protecting the area around Spirit Mountain.[14]

Though most of the proposed boundaries already excluded wind energy, the monument designation prevents the development of new wind and solar power, putting land conservation in contention with reducing emissions.[20] Previous proposals for a wind farm had been blocked by the Bureau of Land Management,[14] and the creation of the monument ended speculation for the revised 308 MW Kulning Wind Energy Project.[20][21] Solar power developers requested that an area near Laughlin, Nevada, be excluded for the proposed 2,500 acre, 400 MW Angora Solar Project, which would have transmission to the former Mohave Power Station,[22][23][20] but this carve-out was not included in the final monument designation.[24]

 
The Newberry Mountains from the Eldorado Valley, with Spirit Mountain at center

President Biden announced the creation of the monument at the White House Conservation in Action Summit with tribal leaders on March 21, 2023, along with Castner Range National Monument.[25] There was a delay of more than three months in designating the monument after President Biden said he would do so, in part due to difficulties in scheduling an event in Nevada to make the proclamation.[6] Local reporters expected Biden to make the designation on a trip to Las Vegas on March 14,[26] but plans changed when members of Congress were unable to attend.[27] Part of President Biden's 30 by 30 conservation goals, Avi Kwa Ame was his largest act of land protection, surpassing Camp Hale—Continental Divide National Monument,[27] until he designated Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in August. The final monument designation was slightly larger than the approximately 450,000 acres (1,800 km2) proposed by advocates, as it also included three wilderness areas already protected within Lake Mead National Recreation Area, including Spirit Mountain itself.[9][28]

The monument is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Park Service; it is not a unit of Park Service, as its portion overlaps Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Small areas are owned by the Bureau of Reclamation and will be transferred to the BLM.[8]

In recognition of Indigenous influence on the area, the monument will have an advisory committee with a majority of members belonging to Tribal Nations, and the Tribal Nations will be involved in co-stewardship of the monument similar to the management of Bears Ears National Monument.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Paul Jackson, Jr. (December 1, 2021). Avi Kwa Ame: Road to 30 Postcards. Center for Western Priorities. Event occurs at 0:07. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  2. ^ "Avi Kwa Ame National Monument". Nevada Outdoor Business Coalition. 2023. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2023. Pronounced Ah-VEE kwa-ah-may.
  3. ^ Schneider, Geoffrey; Houk, Rose (1998). Lake Mead National Recreation Area Guide to Boating. Tucson, Arizona: Southwest Parks and Monuments Association. p. 54. ISBN 1-877856-78-9. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  4. ^ Munro, Pamela; Brown, Nellie; Crawford, Judith G. (1992). A Mojave Dictionary (PDF). Los Angeles: University of California. pp. 36, 123. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  5. ^ Davenport, Coral (March 16, 2023). "Biden Plans to Name Nevada's Spirit Mountain Area a National Monument". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Maxine, Joselow (March 17, 2023). "Biden to declare huge national monument in Nevada, honoring tribes". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d Schechter, Alex (January 24, 2023). "'The Place Where Shamans Dream': Safeguarding Spirit Mountain". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  8. ^ a b "A Proclamation on Establishment of the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument". The White House. March 21, 2023. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Avi Kwa Ame National Monument boundary map" (PDF). Bureau of Land Management. March 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  10. ^ a b c Davenport, Coral; Friedman, Lisa; Flavelle, Christopher (November 30, 2022). "Biden Promises Protections for Nevada's Spirit Mountain". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  11. ^ "Mojave Desert tribes aim to turn a sacred mountain into a national monument". Los Angeles Times. August 28, 2022. Archived from the original on March 23, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  12. ^ "Where the spirit dwells: The wonders of Avi Kwa Ame — PHOTOS". Las Vegas Review-Journal. March 12, 2023. Archived from the original on March 13, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  13. ^ a b "Near the Colorado River, a landscape held sacred by tribes gets national protection". The Nevada Independent. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  14. ^ a b c "Biden commits to honoring tribes by protecting public lands in Nevada". Washington Post. November 30, 2022. Archived from the original on November 30, 2022. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  15. ^ "Management plan finalized for Piute-Eldorado area". Mohave Daily News. August 17, 2022. Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  16. ^ "Piute-Eldorado Valley Area of Critical Environmental Concern". Bureau of Land Management. Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  17. ^ Solis, Jeniffer (February 17, 2022). "Titus introduces bill establishing Avi Kwa Ame as national monument". Nevada Current. Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  18. ^ "H.R.6751 – Avi Kwa Ame National Monument Establishment Act of 2022". Congress.gov. February 15, 2022. Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  19. ^ "Interior Secretary visits possible Avi Kwa Ame national monument landscape in Nevada | The Wilderness Society". www.wilderness.org. September 8, 2022. Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  20. ^ a b c Streater, Scott (February 6, 2023). "Nev. monument will shield sacred tribal land — from renewables". E&E News. Archived from the original on February 15, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  21. ^ "Antiquities Act Litigation Threatens Nevada Monument Proposal". news.bloomberglaw.com. Archived from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  22. ^ McMilling, Bill (December 1, 2022). "Biden plans designation for Avi Kwa Ame". Mohave Daily News. Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  23. ^ "Avi Kwa Ame to be Nevada's next national monument, Biden promises". Las Vegas Review-Journal. November 30, 2022. Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  24. ^ Streater, Scott (March 21, 2023). "Biden to create national monuments in Nevada and Texas". E&E News. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  25. ^ "FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Takes New Action to Conserve and Restore America's Lands and Waters". The White House. March 21, 2023. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  26. ^ "Biden to Designate Avi Kwa Ame on Las Vegas Trip". The Nevada Independent. Archived from the original on March 13, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  27. ^ a b "Analysis | Scheduling woes delay Biden's largest land conservation act". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on March 11, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  28. ^ Streater, Scott. "Advocates praise new monuments, but work remains on access". POLITICO. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
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