Mr. President: Safeguard our precious public lands for posterity
The ‘wild places’ serve those, including veterans, who seek to find peace
As a former member of the U.S. armed forces, I swore an oath to uphold the rights and liberties guaranteed in our Constitution. For me, and for many veterans, that includes protecting our public lands. They are part of what makes America great. The freedom to go out and be in these beautiful wild places that embody our nation’s spirit — its history and its future — is worth defending.
That’s why I recently joined more than one thousand former military leaders who posted a letter to President Donald Trump asking him to maintain the boundaries of our national monuments.
We’re concerned that more of our irreplaceable public lands may be at risk after the president signed an executive order late last year shrinking Utah’s Bears Ears by 85 percent and Grand Staircase-Escalante by 50 percent.
“Along with our brothers and sisters in arms,” the letter reads, “we have dedicated our lives to the protection of this great nation. It is only right that we continue our service as advocates for and stewards of its public lands so that we, our fellow Americans, and visitors from around the world can experience the beauty, history, grandeur and culture of our great country.”
The president was acting on the recommendation of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke whom he charged with reviewing dozens of national monuments as potential sites for increased oil and gas drilling, mining and ranching.
In July, during this review process, I had the opportunity to accompany Secretary Zinke on a hike into Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. As fellow former Navy Seals, we found common ground to speak frankly and openly about why so many veterans believe our national monuments should remain unaltered.
These wide open public lands and waters are an important part of our identity as Americans, but there’s additional motivation for many service members: Ten to 15 percent of all veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress. Protected public lands offer an oasis of quiet and peace that can help with healing.
As we wrote the president, access to places like Rio Grande Del Norte or Nevada’s Gold Butte, “is invaluable as we strive to leave the battlefield behind and train our eyes forward. These protected public lands, including our national monuments, offer a chance to heal from the stresses of service, reconnect with family and friends, and reintegrate into civilian life.”
These national monuments are possible because of the Antiquities Act, a 1906 law signed by President Teddy Roosevelt that has protected some of America’s most hallowed ground. Since then it has been used by presidents of both parties to safeguard culturally and scientifically significant landscapes and historic sites across the country. Before becoming national parks, the natural beauty of the Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree and Zion was preserved by chief executives using the Act. Here in New Mexico, El Morro, Chaco Canyon and Gila Cliff Dwellings owe their continued existence to wise use of this 112-year-old law.
Why would we want to walk back the protection of some of our grandest public lands? Conserving national monuments as they are ensures that generations of Americans and American servicemen and servicewomen will forever have places to hike, camp, fish, hunt and heal.
When we open our public lands to developers, we — the American people — end up paying the price. Those lands will no longer be places for relaxation and renewal. They won’t be improved upon. And they won’t be available to those who come after us who yearn to experience part of what makes our nation great — its wild, open and free public lands.
So let’s urge the president to consider leaving a natural legacy for our children, to err on the side of safeguarding more of our public land, not less. We owe it to them, and to all those who have and will serve our country.