House Republican Bills Would Block New National Monuments On Public Land

WASHINGTON — Presidents from Theodore Roosevelt to George W. Bush have designated public land as national monuments, using a federal law to protect from development sites judged to have natural, historical or scientific significance.

Now some House Republicans, saying the 105-year-old law has been misused, have introduced bills to limit or block the president's ability to make such designations without approval from Congress.

GOP Rep. Denny Rehberg of Montana compared the 1906 Antiquities Act to the mythical sword of Damocles, calling it a weapon that can be used against rural communities at any time without warning.

Residents of Montana and other Western states "must cope with the constant knowledge that, one day, we could wake up to find that with the stroke of a pen, the president declared their back yard a national monument," Rehberg said Tuesday.

For many living in the West, "it's no myth," Rehberg said, citing a 2001 designation by then-President Bill Clinton creating the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument in Montana and Clinton's 1996 designation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah.

Rehberg, who is running for U.S. Senate against Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., sponsored one of six GOP bills to overturn or limit the Antiquities Act.

The bills respond to outrage expressed throughout the West last year after an internal Interior Department memo was made public. The memo listed 14 sites in nine states that could be designated as national monuments. The plan was never formally proposed, but opponents said its existence showed the need to reform the law.

"This isn't about preventing future monument designations. It's about making sure those designations aren't forced on people who frankly don't want or need them," Rehberg said.

Jerry Taylor, mayor of Escalante City, Utah, testified in favor of the bills. He said the 15-year-old Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has been "devastating" to his small town and cost many people their jobs.

The 1.9-million acre monument "has hurt the local economy, driven our residents to find work elsewhere and burdened local government to provide uncompensated services," Taylor told the House Natural Resources Committee Tuesday.

Ray Rasker, executive director of Headwaters Economics, a Montana-based research group, said economic data does not support Taylor's claim. Rasker's group studied the economic performance of communities adjacent to 17 national monuments in the West.

"In all cases there was growth of employment, real personal income and real per capita income. In no case did we find that the creation of a national monument studied led to an economic downturn," he said.

No one from the Obama administration appeared at the hearing, but the Interior Department submitted testimony opposing all six bills.

The Antiquities Act helped establish some of the nation's most familiar monuments, from the Grand Canyon to the Statue of Liberty and Muir Woods, the statement said.

"Without the president's authority under the Antiquities Act, it is unlikely that many of these special places would have been protected and preserved as quickly and as fully as they were," the statement said. "Who among us today would dam the Grand Canyon or turn Muir Woods over to development? These sites ... speak eloquently to the wisdom of retaining the Antiquities Act is its current form."

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, whose office first made public the internal Interior Department memo, said he has received assurances from the Obama administration that none of the sites listed will be designated as monuments in the president's current term.

But he said a law is needed just to make sure. "I take them at their word, but I don't want another Clinton to ever do it again," Bishop said.

Environmental groups blasted the GOP bills, saying monument designation has boosted tourism and preserved cultural wonders.

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Online:

House Natural Resources Committee: http://naturalresources.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID259618

Follow Matthew Daly on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC

Comments

[Cacey]

01:25 PM on 09/14/2011

California, Oregon and Washington will never stand for this nonsence just as we will not accept off shore drilling. We've learned from out mistakes and will not let DC, Republican or Democrat do further damage to our economies. I lived 1/4 mile from the explosion of a Texas owned jet fuel piple line that exploded killing a half dozen people, fortunatly none from the local high school directly across the street. The Republicans care not for the environment be it in outlying areas or your town or your backyard.

[homer winslow]

12:12 PM on 09/14/2011

Residents of Montana and other Western states "must cope with the constant knowledge that, one day, we could wake up to find that with the stroke of a pen, the president declared their back yard a national monument," Rehberg said Tuesday.

Whereas, if the Republicans have their way, they could wake up to find an oil rig in their back yard.

[Dem2012]

12:06 PM on 09/14/2011

Seems the repub/teabaggers are really trying to usurp the power of the Presidential branch of gov. They appear to want it to be a figurehead and to give most of the power to the congress. Our national monuments are a testiment to the wisdom of those that came before.

[renoir]

12:05 PM on 09/14/2011

Um. The Grand Canyon is dammed. But that aside, it seems pathological at this point... republicans can only see the value in something based on their own personal ability to make money off of or personally benefit from something.

[ldcbl]

12:05 PM on 09/14/2011

Is this the tpub jobs program?

[wrightthewrong]

11:55 AM on 09/14/2011

The "discovery" of a memo requires a law that would prevent any future historical monuments to be designated? They must have run out of antiabortion issues - now on to the really important stuff...

[SportyJim]

11:55 AM on 09/14/2011

As a center-right independent, I find some of these proposals pretty inane. I'm all for protecting our history and the natural beauty of our land. What comes next, tear down the Washington Monument to build a Walmart?

[kareemachan]

11:52 AM on 09/14/2011

Well, if Obama might use it, the law must be bad.

[eyeroll]

[YoureSoShain]

11:52 AM on 09/14/2011

Really? There's NOTHING else to focus on at the moment? The GOP is to politics as lolcats is to employee productivity.

[camelias and sweet tea]

11:53 AM on 09/14/2011

fan

[cibersatan]

11:49 AM on 09/14/2011

if somehow the Grand Canyon were filled with money, the repubs would be all for protecting the Antiquities Act..

[DaveMac45]

11:46 AM on 09/14/2011

I'd rather have a national monument in my backyard, than a nuclear power plant or gas drilling rig.

[Dave Harpe]

11:42 AM on 09/14/2011

Clearly, they just don't like public ownership of anything. If they had their way, Yellowstone would be an amusement park or a place for rich people to build their mansions.

[camelias and sweet tea]

11:54 AM on 09/14/2011

Just like Sedona, Arizona is.

[Dave Harpe]

01:09 PM on 09/23/2011

John McCain has a house there, but may have never actually been in it, at least not that he can remember.

[Gestas]

11:36 AM on 09/14/2011

Rick Perry calls them "Pagan Symbols"

[inkongirl]

11:16 AM on 09/14/2011

How are you going to drill for oil if there is a monument there?

[moneill01]

12:34 PM on 09/14/2011

In Ohio where I live, that's what Kasich wants to do is drill for oil in our state parks! Damn the wild life, nature whatever let's drill! And while we are at it sell our prison's to private companies, take away collective bargaining from our firemen, policemen, teachers etc afterall don't they have the "easy" jobs!! Whatever, I'm getting really tired of the mindset of this country, spewing their christian values but they don't give a damn about anyone but themselves!!! I'd rather have a monument in my backyard too versus a nuclear power plant or them drilling for oil!!

[istvan13]

11:06 AM on 09/14/2011

Knowing Rehberg and his greed, he is more about making sure that the wealthy have access to land and deny it for public use. The Antiques act saves beautiful, public lands from being made the play ground of the wealthy. People like Rehberg want to develop all land and have none set aside for the general population.