Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

In March, President Joe Biden created the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument (“Spirit Mountain” in the Mojave language) in southern Nevada on land considered to be among the most sacred places on Earth by the Mojave, Chemehuevi, and some Southern Paiute people. It is also important to other Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples including the Cocopah, Halchidhoma, Havasupai, Hopi, Hualapai, Kumeyaay, Maricopa, Pai Pai, Quechan, Yavapai, and Zuni Tribes. The peak of Avi Kwa Ame is designated as a Traditional Cultural Property on the National Register of Historic Places.

In March 2023, President Joe Biden established the Castner Range National Monument in El Paso, Texas, to protect cultural, scientific, and historic objects and to honor U.S. veterans, service members, and Tribal Nations. Located on Fort Bliss, Castner Range served as a training and testing site for the U.S. Army from 1926 until 1966. It contains several sites of cultural significance to Tribes, including the Apache and Pueblo peoples and the Comanche Nation, Hopi Tribe, and Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma.

This week, as part of the ACHP’s commitment to raise awareness of historic places, the agency is celebrating the five national monuments President Joe Biden has designated since taking office. Today, the feature is his fourth designation, the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Mississippi and Illinois.

Last week marked President Joe Biden’s fifth designation of a national monument, setting aside nearly 1 million acres as the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in Arizona.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Nine Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) students last week completed an almost four-week internship called Cultural Heritage in the Forest (CHIF). It is a collaboration among the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), USDA Forest Service’s Heritage Program, Wayne National Forest in Ohio, and Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia. CHIF is a hands-on program for students at HBCUs, training them in cultural resources management, historic preservation, and conservation.