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Battle Over National Monuments Reaching Fevered Pitch This Week

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Rio Grand del Norte National Monument/Joint Economic Committee Democrats

With Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke scheduled to send his recommendations over the fate of 27 national monuments to President Trump this week, groups are continuing to push back against the review, sending out press releases and mounting television and radio ad campaigns pointing to the benefits that flow from these public lands. In Congress, U.S. Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva released a report claiming that the secretary's decisions will tilt decidedly towards pleasing the fossil fuels industry.

President Trump back in April signed an executive order directing the Interior Department to review national monuments designated by the last three presidents, going back to 1996 when President Bill Clinton established the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah via his authority under the Antiquities Act.

At the time, Secretary Zinke said the executive order would not abolish any monuments and would not weaken any environmental regulations, but was designed to review how the Antiquities Act has been used.

There is great concern across the conservation community, and in some communities surrounding national monuments involved in the review, that Secretary Zinke will recommend significant changes in the size of some monuments, and will also suggest changes in the Antiquities Act that gives presidents the authority to designate monuments without congressional approval.

Rep. Grijalva's 28-page report released Tuesday argued that the review of national monuments was designed to result in tens of thousands of acres being made available to the fossil fuels industry.

When it comes to coal, hardest hit by President Clinton's decision in September 1996 to designate the 1.9-million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was Andalex Resources, Inc., which maintained that it would have made nearly $60 million over a 40-year-period from developing coal reserves in the region. In the end, the company was paid $14 million by the federal government for leases it held inside the new monument.

That Secretary Zinke has not rendered his opinion on Grand Staircase-Escalante, as he has on some others (see below), might be inferred to mean that he intends to recommend that it be reduced, with the lands outside the new boundaries opened to mining. Indeed, President Trump campaigned in part on bringing the coal industry back to life, and in the two months following his confirmation as Interior secretary Mr. Zinke met more than a half-dozen times with energy industry chiefs, according to The Washington Post.

The president also signed a number of executive orders lifting some regulations on the energy sector (e.g., repealing the Stream Protection Rule, approving access for the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines), and Secretary Zinke lifted the temporary pause on federal coal leasing and ordered a delay in methane rules that apply to energy development on public lands, a move viewed as a precursor to a scuttling of the rule.

"While much of President Trump’s agenda has been stymied by successful legal challenges or internal Republican infighting, the fossil fuel industry has enjoyed remarkable and lucrative success in shaping President Trump’s policies," reads a section of Rep. Grijalva's report, Fossil Apostles. "Weaker protection for national monuments is next on the industry’s wish list. A January 2017 letter from a variety of industry groups, including the American Exploration & Mining Association, the Independent Petroleum Association of America, and the Western Energy Alliance urged President Trump to 'work with Congress to pass legislation to improve accountability and transparency in the designation of national monuments.'"

While Rep. Grijalva's report was circulating, outdoor clothing manufacturer Patagonia was investing in a media campaign against the possible revision in the national monument landscape. The company made a nearly $700,000 ad buy in Secretary Zinke's home state of Montana to remind him of his statement that "our greatest treasures are public lands," and in Utah, where the secretary already has said he would recommend a reduction in the size of the 1.35-million-acre Bears Ears National Monument and is expected to make a similar recommendation for Grand Staircase-Escalante.

Patagonia also was considering a media buy in Nevada, where Gold Butte and Basin and Range national monuments are also under threat. 

“The national monuments under review are a critical part of our national heritage and these lands belong not just to us, but to future generations. We stand with the millions of Americans who spoke out in support of keeping protections in place for public lands. We hope Secretary Zinke will remember his roots and his words and protect these ‘national treasures,'" said Patagonia President and CEO Rose Marcario.

Since Secretary Zinke began his review, the secretary has said he would recommend:

  • Reductions in the size of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah
  • No changes to the Sand to Snow National Monument in California
  • No changes to Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in Idaho
  • No changes to the Hanford Reach National Monument in Washington state
  • No changes to the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument in Arizona
  • No changes to the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument in Montana, and;
  • No changes to Canyons of the Ancients in Colorado

Secretary Zinke also suggested that Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine would make a good national park.

Pacific Remote Islands National Monument/Joint Economic Committee Democrats

On Monday, the Joint Economic Committee Democrats released a series of fact sheets on the economic benefits of national monuments to their surrounding communities. The fact sheets focus on newly designated national monuments, marine national monuments, and others under review.

“From the Mariana Trench in the Pacific to the Río Grande del Norte in New Mexico, national monuments are not only a cherished part of American heritage, but a key contributor to local economies that are supported by outdoor recreation,” said U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat who is the ranking member of the Joint Economic Committee. “National monuments enrich rural and remote communities in New Mexico and across the country through their continuous economic activity. Removing designation in whole or in part from national monuments, as the Trump administration has proposed, would eliminate this economic engine. I remain committed to protecting our national monuments so that our children and generations to come can enjoy their long-lasting beauty, history and legacy.”

According to the statistics the committee collected, the economies of Western communities adjacent to protected public lands have per capita incomes $4,360 higher than counties with no protected lands. Additionally, the committee said:

  • In Nevada, outdoor recreation as a whole generates $12.6 billion in consumer spending annually, supporting 87,000 direct jobs and $4 billion in wages in the state and $1.1 billion in state and local tax revenue.
  • Since 2001, service jobs in the Cascade-Siskiyou Oregon region where the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument stands have grown by 21 percent with travel and tourism making up 19 percent of total private employment in 2015.
  • In the region surrounding Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in New Mexico, travel and tourism accounted for 19 percent of total private employment in 2015.
  • National monument designation creates a competitive advantage—communities with protected federal public lands generally see faster job growth and higher wages than those without public lands.
  • Since 2001, service jobs in the Carrizo Plain National Monument region have grown by 37 percent with travel and tourism making up 19 percent of total private employment in 2015.
  • Estimates of global ecosystems show the marine national monuments and sanctuaries under review could provide at least $440 billion in benefits.

Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument/Joint Economic Committee Democrats

On Tuesday, the Escalante and Boulder Chamber of Commerce in Utah sent a letter to Secretary Zinke urging him to leave Grand Staircase-Escalante as is, saying it has developed into an economic lifeline for their communities.

"Since the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was designated 21 years ago, local residents have built and invested in businesses to capitalize on increased tourism to the area. Tourism represents 44 percent of total private employment in Escalante and the surrounding communities. At the same time, traditional economies such as livestock grazing, continue to be protected in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument," reads a portion of the letter (attached below). 

"Families have literally invested in the continuance of our local National Monument. As we emphasized in our public comments, shrinking the size of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument will hurt our businesses and destroy what our community has built over two decades."

In Utah, Wayne Hoskisson from Sierra Club’s Utah Chapter told a rally on Sunday that, "Reviewing Utah’s national monuments is not in the interest of our residents but rather oil, gas and coal companies who use our lands and send profits out of state. This administration's efforts to remove critical land and wildlife protections is rooted in short term profits when our monuments’ values extend beyond price. We need places for people to connect to nature and see the remnants of millenia of human life."

Willie Greyeyes from Utah Diné Bikéyah, which long pushed for Bears Ears National Monument, issued the following statement:

"Everyone has a stake here, but for us as Native Americans these are lands we call home. As President of the United States, you can create common ground for all American citizens to stand upon. By honoring the land, you will honor all people who serve as stewards of these public lands for centuries. We are ready to share what we have learned over the past 12,000 years as we chart a path forward together.”

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