The CPANP Logo

 

November 15, 2022

The Honorable Joseph R. Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

We are writing on behalf of over 2,200 members of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, a non-profit organization composed of retired, former, or current employees of the National Park Service (NPS). The Coalition studies, educates, speaks, and acts for the preservation of America’s National Park System. As a group, we collectively represent over 45,000 years of experience managing and protecting America’s most precious and important natural and cultural resources.

We greatly appreciate your recent designation of the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument. We applaud your use of the Antiquities Act to preserve this landscape and advance our nation’s goal of conserving 30 percent of federal lands and waters by 2030. We urge you to continue to use the authority granted to the President under the Antiquities Act to designate additional federal lands as national monuments to order to ensure their continued protection.

Many of our treasured national parks began as national monuments, including sites such as Acadia National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, and Olympic National Park. Today, these places are integral to our national identity and hugely popular sites within the National Park System.

However, much work remains to be done to protect critical landscapes and cultural treasures, and advance our conservation goals. Local campaigns with broad community support are underway across our country to encourage you to continue the work of past Presidents by protecting lands at risk through national monument designation. These include sites such as:

  • Avi Kwa Ame, where a coalition of Tribes, community members, and elected officials are advocating for the establishment of the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument. This site is at the center of the Yuman Tribes’ creation story. Establishing this national monument would be a critical contribution to the preservation of Native American ancestral lands, joining Bears Ears and Gold Butte National Monuments.
  • Castner Range, near El Paso, Texas, where there is a longstanding, locally driven effort to protect the mountains of the Castner Range and open the lands to the public. Establishing the proposed Castner Range National Monument would safeguard the unspoiled land in the Franklin Mountains, which is home to diverse vegetation and wildlife. Additionally, the designation would help protect archaeological and historical resources that date back centuries.
  • The 1908 Springfield Race Riot site in Springfield, Illinois. This site is part of the African American Civil Rights Network, and a monument designation would help to ensure the historic and nationally significant events that led to the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) are remembered.

There are currently hundreds of national monuments that protect and preserve landscapes and stories that are critical to our nation’s history. These spaces keep people connected to our natural world and cultural heritage while supporting local communities. But there are more lands to protect and local communities across the United States are seeking your assistance in preserving irreplaceable sites. Now is the time to utilize your authority under the Antiquities Act to protect more of these special places by designating additional national monuments.

Most respectfully,

The Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks Executive Council:

Michael Murray, Chair
Don Hellmann, Vice-Chair
Michael Allen
Sarah G. Allen
Russell Galipeau
Linda Mazzu
Don Neubacher
Jim Northup
Richard Ring
Cheryl Schreier
William Shaddox
Chris Soller
Sheridan Steele
Terri Thomas
Clara Wooden

Member Sign On

Carl PetersonGlennallenAK
Janis KozlowskiAnchorageAK
Marcia BlaszakWasillaAK
Sanford P. RabinowitchAnchorageAK
Miriam HornsteinHuntsvilleAL
Bill WadeTucsonAZ
Bradley S. TraverTucsonAZ
Kim WatsonFlagstaffAZ
Paul AndersonTucsonAZ
Richard LittlefieldMesaAZ
Robert ArnbergerTucsonAZ
Scott StichaHerefordAZ
Susan HeplerFlagstaffAZ
Alexander McMahonSonomaCA
Amy MeyerSan FranciscoCA
Daphne HatchNovatoCA
Donald L JacksonWeavervilleCA
Edwin HessionLos AngelesCA
Elize Van ZandtWoodlandCA
Emilia SanchezYosemiteCA
Gary E DavisWestlake VillageCA
Joseph W ZarkiJoshua TreeCA
Marilyn MeyerPioneerCA
Nancy MaggioraOakdaleCA
Peter James FitzpatrickLaguna NiguelCA
Ralph MihanSan rafaelCA
Rebecca MillsBerkeleyCA
Richard G DanielsenClovisCA
Rosemary Graham-GardnerManhattan BeachCA
Wendy PoinsotSan FranciscoCA
Woody SmeckNipomoCA
Anndevoy RyanLovelandCO
Bill JacksonFort CollinsCO
Bruce D. MurphyDenverCO
Bruce Noble, Jr.Grand JunctionCO
Charles B WahlerColorado SpringsCO
Craig C AxtellEstes ParkCO
David B ShaverMorrisonCO
David D RobertsMontroseCO
David HolmesEstes ParkCO
Deb PfenningerEstes ParkCO
James CampbellGlenwood SpringsCO
James M BradyHighlands RanchCO
Jean H RodeckWoodland ParkCO
Jervis D SwannackMesa Verde NPCO
John PaigeBroomfieldCO
Kathy ZiegenfusLakewoodCO
Kim E. SikoryakGoldenCO
Larry FrederickEstes ParkCO
Lawrence E BealLittletonCO
Linda AlickGunnisonCO
Lisa EckertGrand JunctionCO
Michael ReesLakewoodCO
Mike WrigleyHowardCO
Patrick H ReedFort CollinsCO
Rick JonesRidgwayCO
Ronald G. ThomanDenverCO
Sam W VaughnConiferCO
Timothy J. OliveriusMancosCO
Vaughn BakerEstes ParkCO
Carol F. AtenWashingtonDC
Nicholas CarsonWashingtonDC
Barbara GoodmanJacksonvilleFL
Dennis HansonPunta GordaFL
Fred HerlingCutler BayFL
James Phillip CorlessNokomisFL
Norah MartinezTitusvilleFL
Oron Lamar Bass, Jr.High SpringsFL
William Lamar HuieTyroneGA
Richard A RaspMountain ViewHI
Chris KorsmoWest branchIA
Judith H. ConneryVictorID
Judith HartEagleID
Terry Michael Di MattioDriggsID
Norman HellmersValparaisoIN
William C WaltersNashvilleIN
Howard G MillerLexingtonKY
Kenneth E. ApschnikatBowling GreenKY
Lynn JamisonLouisvilleKY
Jay EickenhorstRiver RidgeLA
Charles H ArningLunenburgMA
Chuck ArningLunenburgMA
Glenn O ClarkHjnobetMA
Maria BurksWellfleetMA
Dan SakuraChevy ChaseMD
David C HartmanStevensvilleMD
David H. WallaceFrederick, MDMD
David NathansonFrederickMD
Robert Eliot KingSilver SpringMD
Steve PittlemanRockvilleMD
Anne WalmsleyNortheast HarborME
Charlie JacobiBar HarborME
Sarah PeskinWalpoleME
Brian HoduskiHoughtonMI
Edward Peter WalzerHesperiaMI
Ann M. Johnson,KalispellMT
Christine GreveWest YellowstoneMT
Dennis DivokyWest GlacierMT
Donald Bruce FladmarkKalispellMT
Dr. Patricia CorryHelenaMT
Riley McClellandWest GlacierMT
Tom L HabeckerbozemanMT
Brian AdamsDurhamNC
Cynthia M HoldaManns HarborNC
Dan MosesNew BernNC
Daniel BrownWeavervilleNC
Lynda C DoucetteWaynesvilleNC
Michael MollingCandlerNC
Philip A Francis JrAshevilleNC
Steven KesselmanAlbemarleNC
Patricia AshleyDickinsonND
Edward CarlinOmahaNE
Danette PerezSanborntonNH
janet C WolfNewportNJ
Terrence D MooreShamongNJ
Anthony J BonannoSanta FeNM
Cherry PayneSanta FeNM
David DonohueSanta FeNM
Joan WoodwardLas CrucesNM
Tom RibeSanta FeNM
Tom VaughanSilver CityNM
Tony BonannoSanta FeNM
Eileen LoughranLas VegasNV
Denis Michael OsowskiSevilleOH
Emily ThompsonDaytonOH
William CarrollSilver LakeOH
Daniel JennerGlenpoolOK
Bpb AlwardRedmondOR
Doyle NelsonGrants PassOR
George BuckinghamChiloquinOR
Jim StrattonEugeneOR
Robert ReynoldsMedfordOR
David Scott HartwigGettysburgPA
James C RoachGettysburgPA
John Richard ErismanPittsburghPA
Shadoe DruryConnellsvillePA
Sherry V. JustusElkins ParkPA
William LoftusBlakesleePA
William SandersBirdsboroPA
Paul Blake ColeMitchellSD
Alan D. HollisterKingsportTN
Jimmy GrotonOak RidgeTN
Leslie Starr HartFredericksburgTX
William Richard HarwellCollege StationTX
Cordell RoySouth JordanUT
Danette PerezMoabUT
Jim BrandiSalt Lake CityUT
Luke E. DaltonOgdenUT
Paul HendersonMoabUT
Philip BrueckSaratoga SpringsUT
Robert BurnsOremUT
Thomas E HaradenCastle ValleyUT
Bill HafkerOaktonVA
David Lee BarnaSpringfieldVA
de Teel Patterson TillerFalls ChurchVA
Denis GalvinMc LeanVA
Dixon B. FreelandLuray,VA
Gordon V. GayWinchesterVA
Jerry CaseDullesVA
John F ByrneOaktonVA
John J. ReynoldsCrozetVA
Karen RehmWillamsburgVA
Larry HakelLurayVA
Phil SelleckFalls ChurchVA
Rebecca L. HarriettBluemontVA
Roberta BarrowsArlingtonVA
Russ LudwickLurayVA
Sam WeddleFront RoyalVA
William H. OverstreetRoanokeVA
William ReidManassasVA
John GilbertSouth WoodstockVT
Barbara MaynesPort AngelesWA
Bob ValenGrand CouleeWA
Colin HastieYakimaWA
David GivenPort TownsendWA
Dennis BurnettSequimWA
Denny HuffmanRidefieldWA
Diane ChungPort AngelesWA
Gary CumminsPort TownsendWA
Gilbert BlinnEastsoundWA
Ginny RousseauSequimWA
Janet ValenGrand CouleeWA
Laura M. RotegardIndianolaWA
Mary Miller ChapmanUniversity PlaceWA
Rick MossmanMount VernonWA
Ronald G. WarfieldEatonvilleWA
Scott ChapmanUniversity PlaceWA
Stephen T GibbonsMount VernonWA
Thomas M. LorigSeattleWA
Timothy MannsMoung VernonWA
Marsha B WasselMartinsburgWV
Stephen W HastingsHarpers FerryWV
Carl StaplerEvanstonWY
Sarona AustinYellowstone National ParkWY