July 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 36

SOCIAL EQUITY

Advocates for preserving our national monuments testiﬁed during a forum on the HIll, June 8, 2017:
(left to right) Hugo Turek, Megan Duﬀy, Carrie Hamblen, Robert Vessels and Robert García.

Stop the Interior Department's Monumental Mistake
By Robert García

nder the Trump administration's executive order to review national monuments designated since 1996, the U.S. Department of the Interior identified
27 monuments that could be scaled back or even eliminated. The list targets
seven in California alone: the San Gabriel Mountains, Sand to Snow, Mojave
Trails, Berryessa Snow Mountain, Giant Sequoia, Carrizo Plain and Cascade Siskiyou
National Monuments. Recently, Ryan Zinke, the interior secretary, issued an interim report on reductions to the 1.35 million-acre Bears Ears monument in Utah. He is set to submit a report by August 24 with recommendations for changes to monuments from Maine
to California, as well as marine monuments in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Now is the time to defend our national
heritage. The review targets and threatens monuments that focus on the history
and culture of diverse communities. An
attack on one monument is an attack
on all monuments. The order is an attack on the Antiquities Act, on the rule
of law, and on democratic governance.
We, the people, are the ultimate check on
government. We must protect our monuments, and hopefully, before the July
10 deadline, more than 250,000 public
comments will be submitted to save the
monuments.
" If we want our system of parks and
public lands to reflect the incredible diversity of America, then the Antiquities Act
is a crucial tool for achieving that goal.
Congress is not always able or willing to

Parks & Recreation

act quickly enough - or frankly creatively enough - to recognize and preserve
sites with cultural or historic significance.
Without the act, we might not have sites
honoring people like Cesar Chavez or
Harriet Tubman or events like Stonewall, " says Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva,
top Democrat on the House Committee
on Natural Resources. Ranking Members
Grijalva, Nydia Velásquez and Tim Waltz
of the Committees on Natural Resources,
Veterans Affairs, and Small Business held
a forum on the Hill, June 8, on the order.
A diverse group of advocates testified on
the values at stake: Hugo Turek, a Montana
rancher, testified that even a rural state with
more cattle than people needs monument
protection. Megan Duffy from retailer Patagonia testified about economic benefits

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of outdoor recreation -- $887 billion and
7.6 million jobs per year. Carrie Hamblen,
CEO and president of Las Cruces Green
Chamber of Commerce and an LGBTQ
leader, testified about civic pride and civic
engagement in support of White Sands,
Prehistoric Trackways and Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks monuments. Robert
Vessels, a U.S. Army veteran, testified about
empowering service members, their families
and veterans by providing access to the outdoors and developing volunteer leadership
skills. I testified on behalf of the Next 100
Coalition, which supports public lands and
waters for all; GreenLatinos, an international network of conservation, environmental
justice, and health equity allies; and San Gabriel Mountains Forever.
Support the San Gabriel Mountains
National Monument
The San Gabriel Mountains Forever coalition has worked for more than a decade
to earn local support for this monument.
The official Community Collaborative
has worked with the U.S. Forest Service
for three years developing the management plan. Community needs have driven
designation and planning from the start.

July 2017 - Parks & Recreation

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