Tribal communities in Northern California’s mountainous interior are celebrating the recent designation of Sáttítla Highlands National Monument after decades of advocacy work to increase land protections in the area.

Biden has federally protected 1,053,125 square miles of land and ocean in his term — an area nearly four times the size of Texas.

A large swath of far Northern California has been established as one of California’s newest national monuments on Tuesday following a proclamation by President Biden, according to the White House. During an announcement on Tuesday in the Eastern Coachella Valley,