The desert is carpeted with yellow flowers along Grandpa's Road in a superbloom created from monsoon rains. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal)Bighorn sheep graze in the South McCullough Wilderness within the proposed Avi Kwa Ame National Monument website. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal)A female phainopepla rests on a branch at the proposed Avi Kwa Ame National Monument. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal)A moth comes to rest on the canyon bottom in Hiko Springs. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal)A spiny lizard unwinds on a hot rock along Christmas Tree Pass Road. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_ImagesA round-tailed ground squirrel eats a snack. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal)A western honey bee gathers nectar. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_ImagesMillennia have weathered holes into the rocks of Ave Kwa Ami. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal)The desert is carpeted with yellow flowers along Grandpa's Road in a superbloom created from monsoon rains. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal)A coyote blends into the desert landscape. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal)A sphinx moth eats nectar. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal)A window in the rocks of the South McCullough Wilderness area within the Avi Kwa Ame proposed National Monument website. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal)Joshua Trees cover the landscape within the Wee Thump Joshua Tree Wilderness Area as Spirit Mountain increases in the range. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_ImagesA male phainopepla flies. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_ImagesA southwestern speckled rattlesnake looks for cover along Christmas Tree Pass Road. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal)A chuckwalla lizard seeks the safety of a rock split along Christmas Tree Pass Road. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_ImagesA vulture soars above Christmas Tree Pass Road. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal)Native American petroglyphs line the rock walls along the canyon bottom in Hiko Springs. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal)Millennia have weathered holes into the rocks of Ave Kwa Ami. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
The proposed Avi Kwa Ame National Monument spans 703 square miles south of the Las Vegas Valley, stretching from eastern edge of the Lake Mead Recreation Area to the California border. The land, listed as a Traditional Cultural Property on the National Registry of Historic Places because 1999, is spiritual to a lots tribes; the Yuman-speaking tribes concern it as the location of their development. At the eastern edge of the monolith, Spirit Mountain increases toward the desert sky; the Mojave people calls it Avi Kwa Ame (noticable Ah-VEE kwa-meh). In the vastness of this wonderful place, the mountain is the holy of holies, the center of the universe. The land of the proposed monolith is bisected by U.S. 95; near its center, an island in the wilderness, is the town of Searchlight. Monument status­ - ­ - which President Joe Biden stated in November is forthcoming - - would secure the remainder of the location, protecting it not only as a place of spiritual and cultural value, however likewise as a zone of stunning natural appeal and biodiversity.

Bighorn sheep graze in the South McCullough Wilderness within the proposed Avi Kwa Ame National Monument site. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal).

The desert is carpeted with yellow flowers along Grandpa'' s Road in a superbloom created from monsoon rains. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal).


A female phainopepla rests on a branch. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal).


Native American petroglyphs line the rock walls along the canyon bottom in Hiko Springs within the proposed Avi Kwa Ame National Monument website. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal).


A Great Purple Hairstreak butterfly collects nectar along Christmas Tree Pass Road. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal).

A spiny lizard unwinds on a hot rock along Christmas Tree Pass Road. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal).


A male phainopepla flies. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal).


A southwestern speckled rattlesnake seeks cover along Christmas Tree Pass Road. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal).


A round-tailed ground squirrel eats a snack. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal).


A chuckwalla lizard looks for the safety of a rock split along Christmas Tree Pass Road.


A sphinx moth feeds on nectar. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal).


A window in the rocks of the South McCullough Wilderness area within the Avi Kwa Ame proposed National Monument site. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal).


A western honey bee gathers nectar. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images.


A vulture soars above Christmas Tree Pass Road. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal).


A coyote mixes into the desert landscape. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal).