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Send an Email to the President Opposing Massive New National Monument Designations in the Waning Days of His Administration

Rushed, Last-Minute Designations Likely

President Obama has designated 553 million acres of land and water as national monuments during his presidency, far more than any other president.  Further, in Congressional testimony Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, acknowledged that more designations may be forthcoming before the end of Obama's second term.  President Clinton famously designated nearly 2 million acres in Utah as a National Monument in the closing days of his Administration.  These sorts of designations have long lasting impacts and will ultimately lead to restrictions on even the most responsible recreational uses.  It is important that we let the President know that these decisions should not be made lightly, and without the support of the local affected public.

Please send an email to the President opposing any unilateral decision to move forward with massive, inappropriate National Monument designations in the final days of his Administration.  

It is imperative that the President hear from you as all sorts of multiple uses including motorized recreation will likely be shut out of National Monument areas.

Background:

As it stands, the Antiquities Act of 1906 grants the President the authority to designate “…historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States to be national monuments.”  The Antiquities Act also holds that national monuments should be “…confined to the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects to be protected…,” yet Presidents of both parties have, in our view, inappropriately designated enormous swaths of public lands as national monuments.  One particularly egregious example was the designation of nearly 2 million acres of public land as the Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument in Utah. 

Too often when widespread local and Congressional support to designate public lands as Wilderness cannot be established, Wilderness proponents turn to a strategy of calling for the President to achieve similar goals by administratively designating the area as a National Monument. It is no secret that those most affected by land use decisions are those who live, recreate and make their livelihoods on or near the public lands in question.  

Please send an email to the President opposing any unilateral decision to move forward with massive, inappropriate National Monument designations in the final days of his Administration.