Biden to designate nearly half-million acres of Spirit Mountain area in Nevada

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Biden to designate nearly half-million acres of Spirit Mountain area in Nevada

The President Biden plans to designate nearly a half-million acres of the Spirit Mountain area in southern Nevada as a national monument next week, according to two people familiar with the matter, protecting some of the most biologically diverse and culturally significant lands in the Mojave Desert.

The area, known as the Mojave name Avi Kwa Ame, is the largest monument that Mr. Biden has designated to date. It could put some of the most potentially productive land in Nevada off limits for wind and solar projects.

Avi Kwa Ame is considered the creation site for Yuman-speaking tribes like the Fort Mojave, Cocopah, Quechan and Hopi. Native tribes, environmental groups, and state leaders have been seeking the designation for more than a decade. The administration is using the authority of the 1906 Antiquities Act to protect the area from development.