Photo Credit: Christian Gerlach
Last Friday, President Obama designated three new national monuments: Basin and Range in Nevada, Berryessa Snow Mountain in California, and Waco Mammoth in Texas. Combined, these new monuments permanently protect over one million acres, nearly doubling the public lands designated as national monuments under the President.
As with past designations from President Obama, the actions come in response to local support and demand. These new national monuments will bring new recreation and economic opportunities, new educational experiences, and an improved quality of life to local communities and visitors from all over the world.
For me here in Washington, D.C., it reinforces my faith in our democracy. Public lands serve as the “glue” that binds all of us together. Across America, people care deeply about our national forests, parks, monuments and other public lands. These lands belong to us. From the establishment of our first national park, Yellowstone, to the designation of our newest national monuments, protecting our shared public lands provides freedom for all. Public lands are also essential for communities as they shift from a boom-and-bust dirty fuel economy to a sustainable outdoor recreation economy.
Yet, today there is a disturbing push from profiteers to remove public lands from the national trust -- to sell them off to the highest bidder to mine, drill and clearcut and close them off to outdoor recreation. Over the past few years, 10 of 11 western states have commissioned studies or introduced legislation to transfer your national public lands to the states. Such extreme efforts demonstrate the power well-funded special interests have when they are allowed to influence local elections with money and misinformation. We must keep our public lands in public hands.
What President Obama has done with the designations of Basin and Range, Berryessa Snow Mountain, and Waco Mammoth as national monuments is cut through the veil of flawed states’ rights arguments and fears of “big government” to the truth beneath: protected public lands remain America’s best idea.
As we approach the one hundred year anniversary of the National Park Service, I am grateful to those who had the foresight to permanently protect our special public places. Looking to the next 100 years, we should continue to expand our network of protected public lands -- adding new national monuments and Wilderness areas while also expanding opportunities to ensure that everyone can responsibly experience nature. President Obama’s ongoing leadership to designate new national monuments for all of us, shows that he understands that we all share the benefits and the responsibilities that come with stewarding our public lands.