Opponents of Chuckwalla National Monument say designation would restrict recreation, hurt private landowners

As President Joe Biden plans to proclaim Chuckwalla lands a federally-protected national monument, some are opposed to the designation.

News Channel Three spoke to Ben Burr, the Executive Director of the Blue Ribbon Coalition. The organization fights national monument designations across the country.

"What we've found when presidents designate these really big national monuments is that they do end up restricting a lot of public access and a lot of recreation access to these public lands," Burr explains. Burr says the organization focuses on maintaining public access to these lands for motorized recreation, like ATVs, horseback riding, rockhounding, camping, and small-scale recreational mining.

"We would argue that multiple-use BLM lands also bring a lot of economic value to the area that doesn't have to be designated as a national monument to bring those economic benefits." Burr continues, "This monument has more private property and holdings than almost any monument I ever see. And so I think this is going to be controversial for those reasons. And the people who have private property and holdings or valid existing rights within the monument are going to have a lot to fight for."

Stay with News Channel Three to hear more from Burr and city leaders on their opposition to the national monument designation.