Don’t let this administration dismantle public lands
The Administration’s recent dismantling of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments is not just a loss for Utah; it is a warning for all Americans who care about our iconic public lands. Here in Colorado, that’s nearly every one of us. Recent polling found that an overwhelming 91% of Coloradans believe that existing protections for National Monuments should be kept in place. It’s easy to see why.
Having been at the helm of two of Colorado’s most iconic parks — Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Rocky Mountain National Parks — I saw firsthand the love Americans have for these lands, and the value they bring to us all. But National Monuments in particular bring enormous worth. First of all, they help precipitate new parks. Both Black Canyon and Grand Sand Dunes here in Colorado began as monuments. Plus they bring in tourist dollars and spur economies in local communities. So too do they provide invaluable protected habitat for our plants and animals, from the bighorn sheep to river otters to the Colorado blue spruce.
President Theodore Roosevelt himself signed the Antiquities Act into law so that presidents could establish National Monuments and protect our remarkable landscapes. In the century since, Republicans and Democrats have used the law in equal measure, because public lands and connection to nature are our bipartisan American heritage. With this crucial policy now under attack, we need our elected officials to stand up and tell the Administration no — for all of us now, and for future generations of Americans to come.
Sheridan Steele, Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, Highlands Ranch