Key takeaways:
- President Joe Biden has designated the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Southern Nevada as a national monument.
- The monument spans more than 506,000 acres and protects Nevada’s Spirit Mountain and the desert around it.
- The designation is part of a larger effort by President Biden to protect the environment and is a major victory for the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe.
President Joe Biden is taking a major step in protecting the environment by officially designating the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Southern Nevada as a national monument. The monument, which spans more than 506,000 acres, will protect Nevada’s Spirit Mountain and the desert around it.
The monument includes Spirit Mountain, a peak northwest of Laughlin called Avi Kwa Ame (ah-VEE’ kwa-meh) by the Fort Mojave Tribe and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The site is considered sacred to Native Americans and has been advocated for by the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe for around three decades.
“Avi Kwa Ame is the point of Mojave creation; it’s a very important and integral part of our history and belief system,” Ashley Hemmers, the tribal administrator for Fort Mojave, told CNN.
The designation of the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument is part of a larger effort by President Biden to protect the environment. He is also establishing national monuments in Texas and creating a marine sanctuary in U.S. waters near the Pacific Remote Islands southwest of Hawaii.
The Avi Kwa Ame National Monument is one of the largest tracts of land to come under federal protection so far during Biden’s presidency. It is a major victory for the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe and a step forward in protecting the environment.
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