Today, we honor Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a holiday celebrated in the United States on the second Monday of October. Indigenous Peoples’ Day offers an opportunity to focus on Indigenous perspectives and experiences while honoring the perseverance, strength, rich culture and diversity of Indigenous people. One way that we can all participate in today’s holiday is to spend some time educating ourselves about the people who cultivated and protected this land, and still do today, long before many of us called it home.

“Condor Ridge-Molok Luyuk-Sunset Over Serpentine”-Photo by Bob Wick

Mobilizing for Monuments

At Flickr, we’d like to honor these sentiments by bringing attention to the Mobilizing for Monuments initiative dedicated to championing conservation policies and protecting our precious public lands. We wholeheartedly pledged our support to this initiative earlier this year, while growing our partnership with The Conservation Alliance.

Within Mobilizing for Monuments, various campaigns are actively working towards preserving our public lands. The overarching objective is to urge President Biden to leverage the Antiquities Act, allowing the designation of federal public lands, including national monuments, through Presidential proclamations. The most recent designation was celebrated in August with President Biden designating Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. You can read more about that exciting accomplishment here!

“Milky Way from Condor Ridge-Molok Luyuk”-Photo by Bob Wick

Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument

There’s more work ahead to raise awareness about additional lands deserving of protection through official designations. On this Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we want to shine a spotlight on a specific campaign – the effort to expand protection of Molok Luyuk, land near the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument that is sacred to the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation.  The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation is a sovereign nation of Indigenous people living on lands in Northern California, today recognized as Yolo, Solano, Colusa, Lake and Napa Counties, which are centered in Yolo County’s Capay Valley. 

Designated by President Obama in 2015, the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument stands as a testament to conservation efforts. Today, the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, along with passionate conservationists, advocate for the expansion of this monument to encompass Molok Luyuk. This piece of public land, situated on the eastern edge of the existing monuments, is still excluded from the initial 13,753-acre monument designation in Lake and Colusa County and would safeguard critical habitats for wildlife, protect sacred tribal lands, and improve resources and land management.

“Grey pines & chaparral on sub-ridges”-Photo by Bob Wick

How can you help?

You can take action today by signing the petition to urge the President and Congress to expand the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument’s protection to include all of Molok Luyuk.   This is a great opportunity for us to stand in solidarity with the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and join their call for expanded protection of this sacred land.

“Condor Ridge-Molok Luyuk-Sunset”-Photo by Bob Wick

More on the Horizon

As we continue to partner with The Conservation Alliance and extend our unwavering support to the incredible Mobilizing for Monuments initiative, we invite you to be part of this journey with us. Stay tuned for more developments on the horizon! In the meantime, if you’d like to see some shots from the other locations that Mobilizing for Monuments campaigns are supporting, visit our Mobilizing for Monuments gallery!

Written by: Crystal D., Director of Marketing, Flickr and Josie P., Flickr Community Content Associate

Not a Flickr member yet? Sign up today to join our community of photographers and find your inspiration.