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Release Date: January 17, 2024
Media Contact: Emily Thompson, Em************@pr********.org, 202-758-3936 

Coalition Defends Antiquities Act

Today, U.S. Representatives Celeste Maloy (UT-02) and Mark Amodei (NV-02) introduced legislation that would strip presidential authority to designate national monuments under the Antiquities Act.

Phil Francis, Chair of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, issued the following statement:

“The Antiquities Act has played a pivotal role in our country’s history, and in the history of the National Park Service. The National Park Service manages over 100 parks that were designated thanks to the Antiquities Act, including well-known national parks such as Acadia, Carlsbad Caverns, Grand Canyon, and Olympic. Today, these places are integral to our national identity and are hugely popular sites within the National Park System.

In addition, they have a huge impact on local economies. For example, at Great Basin National Park in Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District – which was first protected as Lehman Caves National Monument – 143 thousand park visitors spent an estimated $15.4 million in local gateway regions while visiting the park in 2023.  At Zion National Park in Utah’s 2nd Congressional District – which was also first protected under the Antiquities Act – 4.6 million park visitors spent an estimated $676 million in local gateway regions while visiting the park in 2023. 

Since the passage of the Antiquities Act in 1906, 18 presidents – nine Democratic and nine Republican – have established or expanded more than 160 national monuments. It has helped to protect landscapes that tell the story of the American experience, through their physical features or their histories. It is a powerful and bipartisan tool that is needed to help protect irreplaceable resources for future generations. The Antiquities Act should be preserved so that America’s special places can be too.”

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The Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks represents over 3,100 current, former, and retired employees and volunteers of the National Park Service, with over 50,000 collective years of stewardship of America’s most precious natural and cultural resources. Recognized as the Voices of Experience, the Coalition educates, speaks, and acts for the preservation and protection of the National Park System, and mission-related programs of the National Park Service. More information can be found at https://protectnps.org