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Friends of the Earth • National Wildlife Federation • Sierra Club • The Wilderness Society • U.S. Public Interest Research Group FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONSERVATION COMMUNITY WANTS NATIONAL MONUMENTS PROTECTED FROM SPECIAL INTERESTS Washington, D.C. -- Word that the Interior Department is about to go forward with development of long-overdue management plans for eleven of the Nation's newest national monuments is being greeted with cautious optimism by leading conservation groups. The groups warn that protecting these natural gems will require a process that is both comprehensive and inclusive in order to ultimately reverse politically motivated changes in interim management guidelines that have led to increased oil and gas drilling, mining and use of dirt-bikes and off-road vehicles in the environmentally-sensitive national monument areas. "A process with real public input will undoubtedly put an end to the roll-backs that are already threatening natural, scientific and historic values that made these places worthy of national monuments status," said National Wildlife Federation President Mark Van Putten. "The administration may want to drill and mine every piece of public land, but as they learned from the Arctic debate, most Americans want our natural treasures protected." The Department of Interior’s (DOI) announcement was rolled-out today at the Western Governors Conference. As part of the roll-out, DOI also issued a letter to the Western Governors outlining their goals for the planning process and programs they would like to see come out of that process. "Although the ball is finally rolling on national monument management, we fear it might be rolling in the wrong direction,” said Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope. “It is important that Secretary Norton listen to the American people who want to protect the biological, cultural, historic and spiritual values that each national monument honors. Americans appreciate the value of national monuments as special places for our families and future generations to enjoy, not to strip mine or punch holes in at the behest of oil companies, political supporters and other narrow interests." Conservationists argue that many of the plans outlined in Norton’s letter would giveaway management of the monuments to special interests leading to even more oil and gas drilling, off-road vehicle use and other development. They point to the Administrations use of terms like “Creative Non-traditional management,"Partnership Arrangements,” and others as political double talk design to disguise their efforts to undermine the monuments. "The Bush Administration has been relentless in serving the interests of their corporate polluting friends over the American public and our environment," said Brent Blackwelder President Friends of the Earth. "Now they're preparing to hand over our national monuments for exploitation and destruction by the oil, gas, mining and off-road vehicle industries." "The Bush administration has chipped away at protections for our national monuments since they took office; let's hope that the planning process doesn't mark the beginning of a full-fledged assault on these national treasures," said Gene Karpinski, Executive Director of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. "We hope the Bush administration understands that last weeks Arctic vote means the American public supports protections for all special places, including our national monuments." "Time and time again the American people have said they want to see our national monuments protected,"said William H. Meadows, president of The Wilderness Society. "We fear that the current plans outlined by the Administration will cut people out of the process and fail to protect these special places. This should be an open and inclusive public process that includes national, regional and local people." Last month conservationists presented Secretary Norton with 30,000 comment cards from Americans across the country expressing their desire for strong protection of their national monuments. To achieve this conservationists have called on the Administration to:
A comprehensive process will ultimately keep these unique landscapes free from
oil and gas drilling, mining, off-road vehicles, and will uphold the existing
boundaries of each monument as designated. "More than 50 million Americans visit our national monuments every year to enjoy their wild and rugged landscapes, and we hope they can do so for years to come." Continued Meadows. ### Up to Top |