Speak out on monuments

Be heard now if you care about the future of America’s national monuments. That’s because the deadline is fast approaching for comments on a review of monuments, ordered by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke under an executive order from President Donald Trump. July 10 is the last day to send your thoughts on the future of these 27 monuments — including two popular sites in New Mexico. More than 1 million people had weighed in as of Friday (the place to comment is www. regulations.gov/document?D=DOI-2017-0002-0001).

In New Mexico, both the Río Grande del Norte and the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks monuments could be scaled back in size or significantly changed, depending on what Zinke recommends. He has said he is open to keeping monument status, however, and did promise to visit New Mexico — that doesn’t mean he might not shrink the designations. It is important for citizens to stand on record for public lands.

The two sites in New Mexico were established with years of citizen comment, input and collaboration. There’s no need to revisit what was created through the participation of New Mexicans working together over decades. Public meetings took place, with hundreds of enthusiastic participants; thousands signed petitions; ranchers, sportsmen, tribes and local governments weighed in; and public opinion polls show overwhelming support for the sites.

The support makes sense. New Mexico’s monuments under review also are proving to be economic engines for surrounding communities. According to studies, a year after President Barack Obama designated the Río Grande del Norte National Monument, there was a 40 percent increase in visitors and a 21 percent increase in the town of Taos lodgers tax revenue. In Southern New Mexico, visitation to the Organ MountainsDesert Peaks National Monument increased by 102 percent from fiscal year 2015 to 2016, while Las Cruces lodgers tax revenues increased by 6.5 percent over the same period.

Secretary Zinke, under Trump’s executive order, is being asked to consider the original objectives of the Antiquities Act — “including the Act’s requirement that reservations of land not exceed ‘the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.’ ” That’s a clear signal that Trump and his allies want the monuments reduced. Already, Zinke’s interim order on the essential yet controversial Bears Ears National Monument in Utah is calling for a smaller footprint.

Passed in 1906 and signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt, the Antiquities Act gives the president the ability to set aside lands for protection and preservation. Critics call such designations “land grabs,” especially when protected status means that natural resources can no longer be sold off to the highest bidder. The review ordered by Trump is examining designations made under the act since 1996, including some marine monuments. This could lead to exploitation of land and sea, all the more reason citizens should speak up.

The protection of public lands is one of the great achievements of this United States. Both Republican and Democratic presidents have used its provisions to set aside both wild lands and historical sites.

Here’s one representative comment from the Department of the Interior comments site: “Every single one of our parks, monuments and cultural or historic sites is worthwhile and belongs as a part of the American story. I am adamantly opposed to any effort to eliminate or diminish protections for national monuments and I urge you to support our public lands and waters and recommend that our current national monuments remain protected. … Hear me, and the overwhelming number of people who agree with me: Public lands belong in public hands.”

That about sums it up: Public lands do belong in public hands.