MUTT KUPSHUW - ‘ÉEXIL KWÁAVICHUSH NATIONAL MONUMENT
California’s chaparral ecosystems and Tribal cultural values
by David Hogan, Executive Director, The Chaparral Lands Conservancy
A global hotspot for biological diversity. Special cultural places and resources to Indigenous people. Outdoor recreation backyard to millions of southern Californians. Sublime natural quiet and views. These are just a few of the values supporting designation of a proposed new Mutt Kupshuw/‘Éexil Kwáavichush National Monument on federal public land in southernmost California.
Pronounced “Mutt cup-show Éch-hill kwáh-ve-chush” and meaning “take care of the land” in local Luiseño and Kumeyaay/Diegueño Native American languages, a new National Monument would help ensure that federal land centered around California’s southern Pacific Crest is better protected and managed far into the future.
Location of the Monument The proposed Mutt Kupshuw - ‘Éexil Kwáavichush National Monument would be located on approximately 480,000 acres of the Cleveland National Forest and adjoining Bureau of Land Management lands in the foothills, mountains, and desert of eastern San Diego County, southern Riverside County, and western Imperial County (map). The proposed Monument includes six places that could become units of the new Monument including Beauty Mountain, Palomar Mountain, Desert Vistas, Upper San Diego River, Laguna Mountains, and Las Californias. Large areas of conserved lands in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, and Volcan Mountain Preserve among many others border and connect proposed Monument units to provide ecological connectivity across this special landscape.
California’s Unique Chaparral Nature Many values support designation of the proposed National Monument including important natural, cultural, historic, and other resources. But the one primary and unifying resource found across the area is California’s unique and rich chaparral shrublands ecosystem. Chaparral is ubiquitous and forms the original natural vegetation cover across foothills and mountains of the area alongside a relatively few areas of conifer forests, oak woodlands, mountain meadows, and desert scrub. Contributing to the concentration of biodiversity and ecological importance of the area, much of the proposed Monument is located along the very edge of the California Floristic Province where the semi-arid Mediterranean climate and vegetation transitions in just a few miles across the Pacific Crest from a narrow 50-mile band along the Pacific coast to 1000 miles of arid southwestern continental deserts.
Just as forests can consist of various kinds of trees, chaparral vegetation is defined by dominant associations of shrubs such as chamise, manzanita, mountain mahogany, and scrub oak. Chaparral shrublands make up the majority of wildlands in California and are the core nature experienced by millions of visitors to natural parks and preserves around our largest cities.
Unfortunately, chaparral still attracts negative attention from fire agencies and disaster media as a threat to people, rather than positive attention for its true values as a globally unique ecosystem and Californians’ connection to nature. Western culture also seems to love tree forests to the exclusion of other important natural communities, and at best chaparral is overlooked, or at worst it is wrongfully perceived and managed as temporarily frustrated tree forests. Key messages of the campaign for the new Monument will elevate the ecological importance and improved protective management of chaparral.
Indigenous People
The name of the proposed Mutt Kupshuw - ‘Éexil Kwáavichush National Monument was recommended by local Tribal leaders and reflects a cultural history and continuing presence of Indigenous people. Despite a history of genocide and oppression, San Diego County is still home to thousands of Native Americans and has eighteen reservations, more than any other county in the United States. Several of these would border the proposed Monument,
All of the proposed Monument area was the original territory the Cahuilla, Cupeño, Kumeyaay/ Diegueño, and Luiseño people. Yet to this day, Indigenous people are disenfranchised from their original lands and sacred sites when they are barred access to private land and from input to resource management and use. Despite the location of original territories on federal lands, opportunities for Tribal nations to assist in land and resource management is limited by government agency culture and bureaucracies. A new National Monument must recognize and honor the essential cultural history of the region and empower Tribal Nations in management of the Monument.
Other special values
Chaparral shrublands and other natural communities in the proposed National Monument are a part of a California biodiversity hotspot, one of thirty-six places with the richest concentrations of native animals and plants on Earth. San Diego County is also home to more listed endangered species than any other county in the continental United States, and many imperiled animals and plants are found in the Monument. These include the infamous California gnatcatcher, endemic butterflies like the Hermes copper and the Laguna Mountain skipper, plants like Cuyamaca cypress and San Diego thornmint, and even a population of native rainbow trout. And the proposed Monument includes the only documented locations of movement of mountain lions and Peninsular bighorn sheep between California and Baja California. Establishment of the Monument would permanently protect a particular concentration of California’s special biodiversity, support regional habitat conservation plans, and support federal and state goals to conserve 30% of our Nation’s lands and waters by 2030.
Historic values of the proposed Monument include many unique events and places that have shaped local and even national history. The Monument would include parts of the route followed by the Cupeño people in the early 20th Century when they became the last Tribe in the United States to be forcibly removed from their home. Two of the most significant wildfire tragedies in U.S. history took place in the mid-20th Century when twelve firefighters each were killed in the Hauser Creek and Inaja fires and that resulted in changes used to this day in wildfire engagement. The “Impossible Railroad” and early trails and roads connecting San Diego to the continental United States wind through the area. And the Laguna Mountain Recreation Area will be 100 years old in 2026.
The proposed Monument would also help protect the resiliency of natural lands and resources in our era of extreme climate change. The Monument would provide key climate values like carbon storage in the relatively huge and dense roots of chaparral shrubs which live on following wildfire. And ecosystem connectivity would allow animals and plants to move upward and northward in elevation and direction as they’re harried by increasing temperatures and drought.
Areas included in the proposed Monument include extraordinarily popular outdoor recreation destinations for millions of nearby southern California residents. Destinations like the Pacific Crest Trail, Laguna Meadows, Cedar Creek and Three Sisters waterfalls, and snow play areas on Laguna and Palomar mountains attract visitation rivaling some of the Country’s most popular national parks but with far less infrastructure and services. A new Monument would permanently protect these destinations, enhance recreation, and help improve equitable access to nature for all.
Threatened Lands and Resources
At first glance, many lands within the Mutt Kupshuw - ‘Éexil Kwáavichush National Monument may appear as if it’s already protected by federal ownership. But these lands actually exist in a patchwork of conservation areas and conflicting, multiple use management areas, and with the majority of federal lands still available for development. Threats have included energy and utility development, landfills, mining, and under-management. Biodiversity and wildlife corridors and other ecological connections are at risk from development and climate change. Culturally sacred places have been developed, vandalized, or looted. And Tribal access to original territories, traditional resources, and cultural uses have been limited.
Campaign Origin & Progress
The idea for a new national monument in this region originated years ago with The Chaparral Lands Conservancy* following the bitter loss of the Sunrise Powerlink. The Monument campaign took off following inauguration of President Biden and the renewed possibility of support for major conservation initiatives. Thanks to the early support of several environmental organizations, an experienced campaign organizer was retained, and a broad coalition formed to pursue designation of the Monument with a an Antiquities Act proclamation during President Biden’s current term.
The coalition for the proposed Mutt Kupshuw - ‘Éexil Kwáavichush National Monument has been busy with presentations to agencies, stakeholders, and elected officials. We’ve secured nearly 100 endorsements for the Monument from groups, businesses, and individuals including San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council, Julian Chamber of Commerce, San Diego County Democratic Party, Anza-Borrego Foundation, San Diego River Park Foundation, Camp Stevens (Episcopal Camp) Julian, and Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps among many others.
Threatened Lands and Resources
At first glance, many lands within the Mutt Kupshuw - ‘Éexil Kwáavichush National Monument may appear as if it’s already protected by federal ownership. But these lands actually exist in a patchwork of conservation areas and conflicting, multiple use management areas, and with the majority of federal lands still available for development. Threats have included energy and utility development, landfills, mining, and under-management. Biodiversity and wildlife corridors and other ecological connections are at risk from development and climate change. Culturally sacred places have been developed, vandalized, or looted. And Tribal access to original territories, traditional resources, and cultural uses have been limited.
Campaign Origin & Progress
The idea for a new national monument in this region originated years ago with The Chaparral Lands Conservancy* following the bitter loss of the Sunrise Powerlink. The Monument campaign took off following inauguration of President Biden and the renewed possibility of support for major conservation initiatives. Thanks to the early support of several environmental organizations, an experienced campaign organizer was retained, and a broad coalition formed to pursue designation of the Monument with a an Antiquities Act proclamation during President Biden’s current term.
The coalition for the proposed Mutt Kupshuw - ‘Éexil Kwáavichush National Monument has been busy with presentations to agencies, stakeholders, and elected officials. We’ve secured nearly 100 endorsements for the Monument from groups, businesses, and individuals including San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council, Julian Chamber of Commerce, San Diego County Democratic Party, Anza-Borrego Foundation, San Diego River Park Foundation, Camp Stevens (Episcopal Camp) Julian, and Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps among many others.
Benefits of the Proposed National Monument
National monuments are designated to protect federally-owned lands and waters with significant cultural, historic, ecological, and scientific values for conservation and enjoyment by future generations. The proposed Mutt Kupshuw - ‘Éexil Kwáavichush National Monument would:
- Keep beautiful undeveloped mountain and desert lands as they are;
- Protect and support Indigenous cultural uses and places;
- Protect biodiversity and help address climate change;
- Enhance outdoor recreation and equitable access to nature for all;
- Increase resources for conservation management and improved visitor experience;
- Benefit nearby communities.
Establishment of a new Mutt Kupshuw - ‘Éexil Kwáavichush National Monument would ultimately benefit nature and people by reducing the threat of harmful future development. It would provide improved management to protect and maintain this special place and its resources. It would serve as a centerpiece of interconnected and protected natural lands and would help ensure our communities can enjoy these precious natural lands for generations to come.
More information is available at the webpage of the The Chaparral Lands Conservancy (https://www.chaparralconservancy.org/projects/mkeknm/).
All the photo have been contributed by the photographer Bob Wick who asks that they not be reproduced or used without explicit authorization.
* Not to be confused with the California Chaparral Institute (https://californiachaparral.org/), also based and doing awesome work in San Diego County.
David Hogan has worked as a professional environmental advocate for over thirty years. He founded The Chaparral Lands Conservancy in 2009 to advance the conservation of California shrublands, dependent plants and animals, and especially endangered species through acquisition of land and/or management rights, habitat restoration and enhancement, stewardship, research, and education. David is also currently Vice Chair of the San Diego Chapter of the Sierra Club.
