President Joe Biden's designation of Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument in the Colorado Rocky Mountain has been praised by veterans, conservation and other groups, but denounced by the Ute Tribe.

The Ute people were prominently mentioned in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Oct. 12 news release announcing Biden's signing of the proclamation establishing a national monument in the Eagle River valley between Red Cliff and Leadville, Colo. Camp Hale is the first new national monument of Biden's presidency.

"This area was also home to the Ute people long before recorded history, and their unique cultural perspective and historical knowledge is critical to ensuring that we maintain this area’s many priceless characteristics for generations to come," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in the news release.

Biden visited the site where, with his signature, he established the 53,804-acre national monument with an eye toward "preserving a unique era of military history, as well as a visually and culturally rich landscape with broad recreation opportunities," the USDA news release said. The national monument includes Camp Hale, where the 10th Mountain Division trained during World War II, amid stunning national forest land views.

"Camp Hale and the 10th Mountain Division are unique in our military history. The men and women who served and trained in this beautiful but punishing landscape made sacrifices for our country and made their mark on the history of the free world," Vilsack added, according to the release. "The stunning Camp Hale and Tenmile landscape is a recreation mecca where visitors enjoy alpine hiking, snowmobiling, skiing, camping and more – it is an honored obligation for us to protect this treasured piece of our national heritage."

The USDA news release also acknowledged the area has for thousands of years been home to the Parianuche and Uncompahgre bands of Ute. The Camp Hale and the Tenmile Range area "remains culturally important to the Ute people, who return to their homelands to pray, hold ceremonies, honor their ancestors, hunt, fish and harvest plants for medicinal purposes, ceremonial use and basketry," the news release said.

This decision to designate Camp Hale was made without seeking input from the Ute Tribe, a move which has been criticized by the Tribe, according to an Oct. 13 Salt Lake Tribune article. It was described as "an unconstitutional act of genocide."

“[The Biden administration] moved forward with a monument on our homelands without including us,” the Tribal Business Committee, the governing council of the Ute Indian Tribe, said, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. “They talk about Tribal consultation, but their actions do not match their words. We cannot support a monument on our homelands that does not include the Tribe.”