USDA Commemorates the Landmark Designation of President Biden’s Sáttítla Highlands Monument

USDA Celebrates President Biden’s Sáttítla Highlands Monument Designation

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7, 2025 — Today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack commended President Biden’s declaration of a new national monument known as Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in Northern California. This designation preserves Tribal ancestral territories, historic and scientific treasures, and unique flora and fauna, as well as aquifers located at the headwaters of crucial sources of water for communities in California.

“This area, which has been inhabited by Indigenous peoples for over 5,000 years, remains vital to Tribal religious and cultural traditions despite a history of enforced dispossession. The establishment of this monument represents a move towards acknowledging the history of exclusion faced by Tribal Nations on these lands,” stated Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “This designation also highlights the distinctive geology of one of the largest volcanoes in the Cascade Range and the uncommon plants and animals that inhabit this dynamic landscape. The monument further safeguards the region’s recreational potential, breathtaking views, and unparalleled dark night skies.”

“Just last month, I had been informed by numerous individuals about the significance of the Sáttítla Highlands in their lives and for their communities, the regional watershed, and our planet,” mentioned Deputy Agriculture Secretary Xochitl Torres Small. “The monument designation today affirms the value of the area’s cultural assets for Indigenous peoples who have existed there since time immemorial, and fosters collaborative conservation efforts to safeguard and manage this extraordinary place.”

The lands within the national monument are ancestral territories of the Pit River and Modoc peoples and hold sacred significance for them. For these and numerous other Tribal Nations and Indigenous peoples—including the Klamath, Shasta, Wintu, Yana, Siletz, and Karuk—this landscape exerts exceptional influence and is core to their spiritual beliefs and cultural practices.

This monument designation spans almost 225,000 acres of federally overseen public lands within the Modoc, Shasta-Trinity, and Klamath National Forests. The area’s rich geological features provide visitors with insights into ancient forces typically hidden beneath the surface. Sáttítla’s remarkably diverse habitats also support significant biodiversity, including at least 16 plant species labeled as threatened, endangered, or rare, such as the federally threatened whitebark pine and a variety of rare or threatened fungi. The monument also encompasses aquifers that deliver high-quality water to millions of Americans.

President Biden established this national monument exercising his authority under the Antiquities Act. President Theodore Roosevelt first utilized the Antiquities Act in 1906 to declare Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. Following that, 18 presidents from both political parties have employed this authority to safeguard unique natural and historic features throughout America, including the Statue of Liberty, Colorado’s Canyon of the Ancients, and New Mexico’s Gila Cliff Dwellings.

To enhance the protection of the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument, state agencies will allocate additional funds for wildfire prevention and resilience initiatives to bolster the safety and resilience of local communities, state and private lands, and road systems against wildfire risks.

The USDA impacts the lives of all Americans daily in countless positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the USDA is revolutionizing America’s food system with a greater emphasis on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, nutritious, and healthy food in every community, creating new markets and income streams for farmers and producers through climate-smart food and forestry practices, making unprecedented investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity throughout the Department by eliminating systemic barriers and cultivating a workforce that is more representative of America. For more information, visit www.usda.gov.
 

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