Biden to create 2 national monuments in Texas and Nevada honoring Army veterans, Native Americans

Advocates for Castner Range National Monument near El Paso
(Image credit: Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Frontera Land Alliance)

President Biden on Tuesday will designate two new national monuments in Nevada and Texas, protecting 514,000 acres of public lands — two thirds the size of Rhode Island — from development. Biden will announce the new national monuments at the White House Conservation in Action Summit at the Interior Department.

The smaller Castner Range National Monument, on Fort Bliss in El Paso, will encompass 6,600 acres that were used by the U.S. Army for military training and testing from World War II through 1966. In southern Nevada, Biden is setting aside some 500,000 acres of mountainous desert, including Spirit Mountain, as the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument. Avi Kwa Ame is the Mojave name for Spirit Mountain, which is already protected under the Wilderness Act of 1964. The area is sacred to the Fort Mojave, Cocopah, Quechan‌‌, and Hopi peoples.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.