Yes, let’s leave ‘a better land’

To hear the U.S. Department of Interior tell it, it’s essential that the public has a say on how lands are managed. That’s why, for the first time ever, a formal comments period on national monuments has been established. Trouble is, this review is retroactive, a result of an executive order by President Donald Trump asking Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to examine presidential designations of monuments under the Antiquities Act going back two decades. The order targets 27 monuments.

In New Mexico, where strong coalitions of the public — ranchers, business owners, tribal members, veterans, outdoor enthusiasts, local Hispanos and others — worked for decades to win such designations in both Southern and Northern New Mexico, this executive order is a flat rejection of their efforts. It diminishes public input and participation.

Because of Trump’s action, supporters of the Río Grande del Norte and Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks monuments have to stand up and be counted, sharing their views — again — just as they did in the years lobbying for monument status. It’s likely this “review” is simply cover for doing what Trump and his supporters want to do anyway — remove protection from federal lands and open them up for exploitation. However, even if the folks in charge have made their minds up, it’s more essential than ever to speak out. (Comment period for most monuments ends July 10.)

Taos Fly Shop owner Nick Streit pointed out the Río Grande del Norte’s wide impact: “Not only do my family and the dozen guides we employ at our fly fishing shop make a living in Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, but we hunt there for food and gather firewood to heat our homes in winter. Since the national monument was designated, we’ve expanded our business to meet increasing demand from clients who come to visit the area and experience firsthand the wild, natural beauty and cultural heritage at the heart of the Land of Enchantment. The notion of repealing or reducing protections for this universally popular monument — or any public lands in New Mexico — poses a grave threat to both our economy and our way of life.”

In the Las Cruces area, the region has seen a 102 percent increase in visitation since the monument’s designation. Such an uptick in business is another example of the outdoor recreation industry’s $887 billion annual impact across the country — showing the effectiveness of protecting unique places. It’s not partisan, either.

The Antiquities Act, passed in 1906, has been used by presidents of both parties to protect singular places in our great country.

Just before leaving office, President Barack Obama took the bold step of protecting an area culturally important to Native tribes — his designation of Bears Ears as a monument (to be run in collaboration with tribes) set off the gnashing of teeth among elected GOP officials in Utah. On a recent trip to Utah, Secretary Zinke bragged about giving “the public a say,” but did not hold public meetings and rejected talks with tribal leaders.

In a statement that showed how little Zinke understands the rural West — despite being from Montana — he told people to weigh in online, saying, “Sure, there’s tons of Navajo, and everybody, not just the Navajo, [has] access to regulations. gov.” As New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich pointed out in a letter to Zinke, more than three-quarters of New Mexico and Utah residents living in Indian Country do not have access to fixed broadband. They do not have “access” to regulations.gov.

It took years of work to establish the 1.35 million-acre Bears Ears Monument, but the comment period that could help remove its protection is just 15 days, ending May 26. Heinrich has asked Zinke to extend the comment period for 60 days and to hold true public meetings in the Bears Ears area, something former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell did in the period before Bears Ears became a monument. Heinrich is right to do so. In the meantime, time is running out.

(To submit comments, go to www.regulations.gov/ document?D=DOI-2017-0002-0001).

As of Monday afternoon, more than 57,000 comments had been logged. This one was particularly effective at showing why monuments matter: “I will start with quotes from a former Republican president, Teddy Roosevelt, when commenting on our public lands: ‘Of all the questions which can come before this nation, short of the actual preservation of its existence in a great war, there is none which compares in importance with the great central task of leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it is for us.’ ”