Tribes, federal, state and local officials, conservation groups and the public supported protecting 600,000-plus acres of fragile desert forever. Biden will do so before leaving office.

The Chuckwalla and Sáttítla national monuments would safeguard landscapes that Native American tribes have revered for thousands of years.

The president is set to declare two new national monuments in California, in the desert near Joshua Tree and amid forests and lakes near the Oregon border.