Trump’s executive order on parks puts Arizona’s heritage in peril

The Statue of Liberty. Mount Rushmore. Yosemite. These are just some of the hundreds of federally protected sites that help define what it means to be an American.

In Arizona, we have places like the Grand Canyon, Ironwood Forest, Vermillion Cliffs, Sonoran Desert National Monument, and the Grand Canyon Parashant national monuments that are central to the character and history of our community.

When President Donald Trump signed his executive order on April 26 challenging the use of the Antiquities Act by three previous U.S. presidents from both parties, and calling for a review by the Department of the Interior of every national monument designation since 1996, he placed every designated site under attack issuing a de facto call to arms for individuals and communities whose stories are preserved in the land.

It’s important that we remember the struggles of our predecessors to preserve the past, and to remember that these sites are protected not only for their immense natural beauty, but also for their rich cultural and historic significance.

Many protected sites represent the efforts of countless individuals and organizations to preserve, respect and elevate the legacies of people and cultures often pushed to the margins of American History. We are encouraged by the large national effort underway to help further the dialogue around increasing diversity in the use, management and stewardship of our public lands for the generations to come

But the Trump administration’s aggressive disregard for the public trust puts too much at stake and there is a great deal that we have left to do, as concerned and active citizens, to ensure our cherished, public spaces remain so.

As Latinas and mothers, it is our responsibility to protect our families; as elected officials, it is our responsibility to protect yours.

We feel compelled to ensure that Arizonans are represented in this process of evaluating these monuments. It is critical that these lands are available and accessible to future generations. Our ancestors shaped the contours of Arizona’s past and continue to shape its future.

We encourage every individual to get involved ito repel this unwanted and unneeded executive order. You can help by getting out and enjoying our public spaces, sharing your stories, and supporting the communities whose heritage and history are embedded in these lands.

Ironwood Forest National Monument is one of four protected national monuments in Arizona, along with Sonoran Desert, Agua Fria, Grand Canyon Parashant and Vermillion Cliffs National Monuments, that will be subject to review under the executive order.

Within the boundaries of its nearly 200,000 acres exist hundreds of known archaeologically significant sites, representing 8,000 years of human history. Experts in the region estimate more than a thousand such sites are yet to be discovered.

The immense historic and cultural value explains why public support for the protection of federal lands is nearly unanimous. A poll by the Center for American Progress showed 93 percent support for the protection of pristine open lands. As well, the poll indicated 86 percent supported keeping these areas free from extractive industries.

In a special address to Congress on March 25, 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt made it clear how important it is that we preserve important places and be responsible stewards our lands. “(Members of) Congress should recognize in fullest fashion the fact that the subject of the conservation of our natural resources … is literally vital for the future of the Nation.”

We knew it then, in our nation’s adolescence, and we know it to be true now, in a world too often guided by uncertainty, that nothing is more important to the enduring American spirit than the protection and preservation of our shared history, our stories and the places that shaped them.

Arizona Rep. Charlene Fernandez represents District 4; Rep. Rebecca Rios represents District 27; and Regina Romero is the Tucson councilwoman for Ward 1. Email them at cfernandez@azleg.gov and rrios@azleg.gov and follow on Twitter, @TucsonRomero.