A letter opposing HR 2114 - with 40 organizations signed on - has been
delivered to the 52 members of the House Resources Committee. Thanks to all
of you for your quick response.
I've included below a copy of the letter that will be made available to the
press at tomorrow's mark-up (it includes sign ons from 47 organizations
including 7 that signed on this afternoon). For those of you who have asked
whether this may be faxed to your Congressional delegation or to the press,
the answer is yes. Also, for a listing of those reps on the House Resources
committee, check out:
<http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/107cong/quicklist.htm#top>
American Lands
American Rivers
American Society of Landscape Architects
Arizona Archeological Council
Arizona Wilderness Coalition
Center for Biological Diversity
Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection
Colorado Environmental Coalition
Defenders of Wildlife
Drylands Institute Earthjustice
Friends of Arizona Rivers
Friends of Cabeza Prieta
Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Missouri Breaks Monument
Friends of the Sonoran Desert National Monument
Grand Canyon Trust
Grand Canyon Wildlands Council
Idaho Conservation League
Land and Water Fund of the Rockies
League of Conservation Voters
Mineral Policy Center
Montana Wildlife Federation
National Hispanic Environmental Council
National Parks Conservation Association
National Trust for Historic Preservation
National Wildlife Federation
Native Plant Society of Oregon
Natural Resources Defense Council
Neighborhood Coalition of Greater Tuscon
Nevada Wilderness Project
Oregon Natural Desert Association
Safford Peak Watershed Education Taskforce
San Juan Citizens Alliance
Scenic America
Sierra Club
Sky Island Alliance
Soda Mountain Wilderness Council
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
SRI Foundation
The Arizona Zoological Society
The Ocean Conservancy
The Wilderness Society
US PIRG
White River Conservation Project
Wild Hope
World Wildlife Fund
March 19, 2002
Dear Representative:
On behalf of the above listed organizations and our hundreds of thousands of
members nationwide, we are writing to urge you to vote against reporting
H.R. 2114, the "National Monument Fairness Act of 2001," during the House
Resource Committee's consideration of this legislation. In addition to our
brief comments below, we attach and fully concur with the testimony in
opposition to H.R. 2114 given by Theodore Roosevelt IV before the House
Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands on July 17 of
last year.
H.R. 2114 would restrict the president's authority to create National
Monuments under auspices of the Antiquities Act. National Monuments have
been established by presidential proclamations under the Act since President
Teddy Roosevelt designated the Grand Canyon and 17 other natural and
cultural wonders more than 90 years ago. Since the passage of the
Antiquities Act in 1906, more than one hundred National Monuments have been
designated, with all but three presidents since Theodore Roosevelt using the
authority conveyed under the Act. However, H.R. 2114 endeavors to diminish
this vital presidential authority. The bill's fatal flaw is the provision
that "sunsets" any newly designated National Monuments of over 50,000 acres
within two years of designation unless Congress approves the designation.
This stipulation would defeat the very purpose of the Antiquities Act of
1906 and prevent expeditious presidential actions to protect significant
public values and resources.
At present the Antiquities Act maintains appropriate roles for both the
president and the Congress in the protection of important federal land
values. It allows the president to act quickly to protect important objects
and values on the public lands. But Congress retains the ability to
designate National Monuments, change monument boundaries, direct resources
for monument management, re-designate monuments as national parks, and even
to abolish monuments.
The vocal minority who opposes National Monument designations under the
Antiquities Act claims that our nation's newest National Monuments were
designated with no public input or consultation with local officials.
However, one of the most important aspects of recent National Monument
designations was the broad-based local support for protecting these special
places. The accompanying booklet, The Antiquities Act: Protecting America's
Natural Treasures, documents the public participation process used by the
Department of the Interior prior to the designation of our newest National
Monuments.
Our National Monuments inspire, amaze, educate and entrance approximately 50
million visitors annually. The conservation community supports the
Antiquities Act and the fundamental authority it grants to all presidents.
We oppose enactment of H.R. 2114 and any efforts to weaken the Antiquities
Act, as well as any efforts to undercut protections afforded America's
newest National Monuments. We urge you to oppose H.R. 2114 when it comes up
before the Committee.
John A. Giacobbe, RPA
Archaeology & Environmental Science
Stantec Consulting, Inc.
8211 South 48th St., Phoenix, AZ 85044-5355, USA
Voice: (602)438-2200 - Fax: (602)431-9562
email: [log in to unmask]
http://www.nakedscience.org
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