Comments now are being taken on the future of Bears Ears National Monument and 26 other monuments in the country/BLM
When he arrived in Utah earlier this week, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said it didn't matter where you live, whether in Boston, Massachusetts, or Blanding, Utah, you had an equal voice in how public lands, particularly national monuments, are managed. Beginning today, you can add your voice and thoughts to that issue.
The comment period on the validity and worth of 27 national monuments, from Bears Ears in Utah to Katahdin Woods and Waters in Maine, opened this morning on regulations.gov. President Trump called for the Interior Department to review national monuments of 100,000 acres or more created since 1996, when President Clinton designated 1.9-million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah over the protests of Utah's congressional delegation.
While Katahdin Woods and Waters isn't quite 100,000 acres, it was added to the list, presumably, because Maine Gov. Paul LePage personally asked the president to consider whether Maine residents had enough input on whether the 87,000 acres adjacent to Baxter State Park should have been designated by President Obama last year. The twist in this instance, however, is that the monument was established only after Roxanne Quimby, who made her fortunate on Burt's Bees, donated 87,000 acres to the Interior Department specifically so Katahdin Woods and Waters could be created. Were the president or Congress somehow able to abolish that monument, who would own the land?
On Sunday when he met with reporters in Salt Lake City, the Interior secretary said that while he wanted to hear the views of "local stakeholders" on the 1.3-million-acre Bears Ears National Monument, he added that their voices should bear no more weight than those of Americans living elsewhere.
"Does a citizen from Massachusetts have any more standing from a citizen in Montana when it comes to our public lands? No. But everyone should have a voice, and a lot of what I face as secretary of Interior, there's a lot of anger out there. There's a lot of mistrust out there," said Secretary Zinke.
Just as those on the political right critized then-Interior Secretary Sally Jewell for her consideration and meetings over Bears Ears last summer, those on the political left have criticized Secretary Zinke for his meetings this week around Bears Ears and the Grand Staircase.
“It was amateur hour in Utah this week. Secretary Zinke’s one-sided listening tour amounted to little more than a series of staged photo ops with national monument opponents, while the loud pleas from the local monument supporters fell on deaf ears," said Greg Zimmerman, deputy director of the Center for Western Priorities. "Several times during his visit, Secretary Zinke indicated his mind is already made up— he wants to eliminate or shrink Bears Ears National Monument. Any action to undermine the Bears Ears, or any monument, will leave a dark stain on Secretary Zinke’s tenure at the Interior Department.”
In his order to Secretary Zinke, the president gave him 45 days from April 26 to report back on whether he thought Bear Ears should remain intact as President Obama established it under the Antiquities Act, or whether it was too big and should be reduced in size or even abolished. Then, by mid-summer, Mr. Zinke is to report back on the other 26 monuments identified for the review.
Public comment at regulations.gov is being taken on Bears Ears National Monument through May 25, and on all other monuments in the study through July 9.
While Secretary Zinke spent four days in Utah this week, and presumably will visit some or all of the other monuments on his list, there's been no word whether there will be hearings on the monuments elsewhere in the country. So if you live far from the monuments, this comment period might be the only chance you'll get to voice your opinion.
Comments
At the same time the Trump Administration is reviewing the creation of Katahdin Woods and Waters for not having had adequate public input, it put the kibosh on 200 federal advisory committees, including the Acadia National Park Advisory Commission, abruptly ordering them to suspend meetings while Interior does a broad review of land use and management.
Many of these committees serve as liaison between federal lands agencies and the public, as we document in our latest blog post.
As one Acadia advisory commission member put it, it's "inconsistency at the very least."
http://acadiaonmymind.com/2017/05/acadia-among-200-federal-advisory-comm...
I support the National Parks and the newly designated National Monuments under fire at this time. These lands belong to all the people and were set aside for thier natural and cultural value for future generations. They are the last remaining untrouched public lands and of course all the hungry developers want to get their hands on them. Simply take a look at the recent lands developed for oil, gas and minerals. They are an absolute mess with spills all through out, denuded waste land at this point, bright lights 24/7 blindinding the once dark skies of these areas. It is shameful that this or any administration would chose to reduce, downsize and open these beautiful lands to degrading corporate profit. Riding in on a horse through the National Mall in D.C. was a curious show of westernism, but not to be fooled regarding the corporate side of Secratary Zinke's interests. Keep our National Monuments for the future of generations to come. Not for sale or industry.
Here's what I sent. Feel free to borrow or adapt if you like. And, yes, I did have that unexpected meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Comment: As a "deep American," one of whose distant relatives was Patrick Hendry, whose great-grandfathers fought at Antietam and Gettysburg, whose grandfather was an oilman who made major discoveries throughout the West - including Kettleman Hills - and whose father introduced him to camping and hiking and the value of wilderness at an early age, I am appalled at this attempt to remove our national monuments from their current protected status. Some of these places were set aside nearly a century ago, following the example of a great Republican President, TR, and under the direction of a great American businessman, Republican Stephen T. Mather. For a "Republican" administration to undue this work is beyond the pale.
Our family and friends have spent months exploring our public lands, and our national parks and monuments. They have been the strongest glue in our relationships.
We have also had some family connection with lands put into state management - I guarantee that the state involved did a poor job of managing them. So the myth of state management is something I can strongly oppose.
In the case of more recent monuments, including the contentious Bear Ears, I would only point out that these sites have a sacred significance to Native Americans, and we have broken our word to them often enough in the past so we should not allow the current administration to break our word yet again. As to the others - I have personal experience with Escalante/Grand Staircase, Grand Canyon/Parashant, and Craters of the Moon and must say that these are magnificent landscapes of great prehistoric and geological significance and should NOT be tampered with. GC/P has SIX HUNDRED anasazi dwelling sites, for example. NONE of these sites should be shuttered.
What SHOULD happen is adequate funding for the agencies managing them - ALL of them - and a return to the days of strict civil service hiring and promotion within those agencies.
I once attended a conference where I unknowingly ate breakfast with the Archbishop of Canterbury and his wife. When he found out that I had connections with the national parks, he said that he considered national parks our greatest American achievement. Of course, he was including national monuments. I find it strange that we would do anything to hurt his honoring of our great public lands, and his respect for that.
I support The Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, Bears Ears National Monument and all National Monuments as they are part of an irrevocable and beautiful American value, our essence as Americans: the protection of our public lands for everyone's enjoyment and for future generations of all living creatures, without degrading or exploiting these lands, and without allowing private entities access to natural resources on these public lands for private or financial gain. We will not be Americans without these National Monuments.