Sierra Sun Times (February 24, 2025)

Last week, the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks signed on to a letter joining 247 organizations opposing bills which would effectively repeal the Antiquities Act of 1906.

Dear Senators and Members of Congress,

On behalf of the 247 undersigned organizations and our millions of members across the country, we write to strongly urge you to OPPOSE any legislative attempts to repeal or undermine the Antiquities Act, including S.220/H.R.521 recently introduced by Senator Mike Lee of Utah and Representatives Celeste Maloy of Utah and Mark Amodei of Nevada, or other attempts to repeal protections for existing parks and monuments.

On January 16, less than one month into the 119th Congress, S.220/H.R.521 were introduced as the initial effort to gut the law that first protected nearly half of our national parks – the Antiquities Act. If the past is prologue, many more efforts to undermine this bedrock law will be introduced in the next two years. Members of Congress in both chambers have already indicated their intention to advance efforts to repeal protections for existing parks and monuments – with the House even proposing to make it easier to dispose of our public lands in the House Rules package for the 119th Congress.

For more than 100 years, the Antiquities Act has been one of our nation’s most critical conservation tools for preserving our nation’s most important public lands and waters. From Bears Ears to Northeast Canyons and Seamounts, our monuments and other protected public lands and waters unite all Americans by protecting our shared heritage for future generations to enjoy. The sheer diversity of historic, cultural, and natural treasures that have been protected by the Antiquities Act is the reason why hundreds of groups representing sportsmen, cultural heritage organizations, evangelicals, conservation, recreation businesses, historic preservation, and many others all oppose efforts to undermine this vital law.

Eighteen Presidents, Republicans and Democrats alike, have utilized the Antiquities Act nearly 200 times to create and expand national monuments across the country. Some of the jewels of the National Park Service such as Grand Canyon, Olympic, Zion, and Bryce Canyon National Parks began as national monuments. Without the Antiquities Act, these magnificent places would not be the protected, world class national parks they are today, parks that are loved and visited by millions of people from around the world every year and which serve as the bedrock of America’s $1.2 trillion dollar outdoor recreation economy¹.

The American people, including the millions of members we represent, overwhelmingly oppose efforts to block establishment of new parks and repeal protections for the places they love. Per the Colorado College’s 2024 Conservation in the West Poll, 85% of westerners support creating new national parks and monuments to protect historic sites and areas for recreation². This support extends to our precious waters. A 2022 poll revealed that New Englanders are increasingly concerned about ocean health, with more than 80% of respondents favoring the establishment of permanently protected areas in the ocean to help address key issues. Congress should listen to the American public and work towards making our protected public lands even more inclusive of our nation’s diverse history and cultures. Undermining the Antiquities Act goes against the will of the American public and their support for the establishment of future protected public lands.

National monuments drive economic growth in local economies. National monuments create jobs, enhance communities, and help promote local outdoor recreation economies which contributed $639.5 billion in current-dollar gross domestic product (GDP) for the nation in 2023, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Additionally, a 2020 study of communities near 14 monuments designated between 1991 and 2014 demonstrated that boosts in new businesses and jobs were associated with new monuments.

Our organizations and the diverse array of members and interests we represent are united in our support for our national parks and monuments and the bedrock law that has made so many of them possible: the Antiquities Act. Our national parks and monuments protect our uniquely American heritage, created by a uniquely American law signed by the first conservationist president, Republican Theodore Roosevelt. With this in mind, we urge you to OPPOSE S.220/H.R.521 and any future attempts introduced in Congress to undermine the integrity of the Antiquities Act or repeal protections for existing parks and monuments.

Sincerely,

350 Colorado
Accountable.US
Active San Gabriel Valley
Alaska Wilderness League
Alexi Boado
Alianza Coachella Valley
Alta Peak Chapter of California Native Plant Society
Amargosa Conservancy
American Bird Conservancy
American Hunters & Anglers Action Network
American River Conservancy
Amigos De Los Rios
Animal Welfare Institute
Applegate Siskiyou Alliance
Archaeology Southwest
Arizona Faith Network
Arizona Trail Association
Asian Pacific Islander Forward Movement
Audubon Southwest Azul
Basin and Range Watch
Bikepacking Roots
Blacks In Nature
BLU Educational Foundation
Brookline GreenSpace Alliance, Brookline, MA
Build A Better Planet
Cactus To Cloud Institute
California Environmental Voters
California Native Plant Society
Californians for Western Wilderness
Californmia Institute for Biodiversity
CalWild
Carrizo Plain Conservancy
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for Conservation Biology
Chispa Arizona
Climate Communications Coalition
Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks
COFEM
Colorado State Government
Colorado Wildlands Project
Community Land & Water Coalition (Massachusetts USA)
Concerned Off-Road Bicyclists Association
Conservation Colorado
Conservation Lands Foundation
Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship
Conserve Southwest Utah
Council of Mexican Federations in North America (COFEM)
Creation Justice Ministries
DamDol Enterprises
Defenders of Wildlife
Dolores River Boating Advocates
Earth Ethics, Inc.
EarthEcho International
Earthjustice
EarthKeepers 360
Earthworks
Eastern Coyote/Coywolf Research
Eastern Shoshone Tribal Historic Preservation Office
Eastern Sierra Broadband, Great Old Broads for Wilderness
EcoFlight
Endangered Habitats League
Endangered Species Coalition
Environmental Action Committee of West Marin
Environmental Center of San Diego
EPIC (Environmental Protection Information Center)
Forests Forever
Fort Ord Recreation Trails (FORT)
Friends Friends of Avi Kwa Ame National Monument
Friends of Basin & Range National Monument
Friends of Big Morongo Canyon Preserve
Friends of Browns Canyon
Friends of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument
Friends of Douglas-fir National Monument
Friends of Gold Butte
Friends of Headwaters
Friends of International Friendship Park
Friends of Ironwood Forest
Friends of Madrona Marsh
Friends of Nevada Wilderness
Friends of Red Rock Canyon
Friends of Rio Grande del Norte
Friends of Rose Creek
Friends of Sloan Canyon
Friends of the Agua Fria National Monument
Friends of the Amargosa Basin
Friends of the Desert Mountains
Friends of the Dunes
Friends of the Earth
Friends of The Floridas
Friends of the Inyo
Friends of the Lost Coast
Friends of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks
Friends of the Owyhee
Friends of the San Pedro River
Friends of the Sonoran Desert
Futureswell
Get Outdoors Nevada
Grand Canyon Trust
Great Old Broads for Wilderness
Greater Hells Canyon Council
Green New Deal Network
Green Latinos
Greenpeace USA
HEAL Utah
Healthy Ocean Coalition
Heartwood
Hills For Everyone
Hispanic Access Foundation
Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors (HECHO)
Home ⋆ Friends of Harbors, Beaches and Parks
Idaho Conservation League
Illinois Environmental Council
Information Network for Responsible Mining
Inland Ocean Coalition
Institute for a Progressive Nevada
Islanders for the San Juan Islands National Monument
Jake Campos FOTOPRODUKTION
John Muir Project
Kettle Range Conservation Group
King Range Alliance
Klamath Forest Alliance
Las Cruces Green Chamber of Commerce
Lassen Forest Preservation Group
Latino Outdoors
League of Conservation Voters
Living Rivers Colorado Riverkeeper
Loma Prieta Sierra Club
López-Wagner Strategies
Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust
Los Angeles Urban Foundation
Los Padres ForestWatch
Madrean Archipelago Wildlife Center
Massachusetts Forest Watch
Mattole Restoration Council
Michigan League of Conservation Voters
Mojave Desert Land Trust
Montana Conservation Voters
Montana Wildlife Federation
Morongo Basin Conservation Association
Mount Diablo Bird Alliance
Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center
Mountain Area Preservation
Mountain Mamas
Mt. Madonna Challenge
National Ocean Protection Coalition
Native American Land Conservancy
Native Lands Institute
Native Plant Resource Teams
Native Voters Alliance Nevada
Natural Resources Defense Council
Nature for All
Nevada Conservation League Education Fund
Nevada Outdoor Business Coalition
Nevada Wildlife Federation
New Mexico & El Paso Region Interfaith Power and Light
New Mexico Wild
New Mexico Wildlife Federation
New York League of Conservation Voters
North Country Trail Association
North Fork American River Alliance
Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness
Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project
Ocean Conservation Research
Ocean Defense Initiative
Ocean River Institute, Inc
Oceana
OCTA
Oregon Natural Desert Association
Oregon Wild
Outdoor New Mexico
Outdoor Outreach
OVTA
Pacific Crest Trail Association
Pacific Northwest Trail Association
Partnership for Policy Integrity
Partnership for Responsible Business
Patagonia
Plastic Pollution Coalition
Project Eleven Hundred
PROTECT OUR WOODS
Public Lands Conservancy
Puvunga Wetlands Protectors
Rachel Carson Council
Resource Renewal Institute
RESTORE: The North Woods
Rewilding Institute
RISD
Rocky Mountain Wild
Sage Steppe Wild
San Juan Citizens Alliance
San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council
Save Massachusetts Forests
Save Mount Diablo
Save Red Rock
Sempervirens Fund
Sequoia Riverlands Trust
Sheep Mountain Alliance
Sierra Business Council
Sierra Club
Sierra Foothills Audubon Society
Sierra Forest Legacy
Sierra Native Alliance
Sierra Nevada Alliance
Sierra State Parks Foundation
Silvix Resources
Siskiyou Crest Coalition
Soda Mountain Wilderness Council
Southern Environmental Law Center
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
St John Art
Standing Trees
Sugar Pine Foundation
Surfrider Foundation
Sustain Tahoe.org
Terrahana, LLC
The Enviro Show
The Mountain Pact
The Ocean Project
The Orange County Chapter of the California Native Plant Society
The Semilla Project and Semilla Action
The Wilderness Society
The Wildlands Conservancy
Together for Brothers
Trail Access Project
Trust for Public Land
Tuleyome
Unite the Parks
Upper Gila Watershed Alliance
Upper Valley Affinity Group (Vermont)
Vet Voice Foundation
Washington Wild
Wendell State Forest Alliance
Western Environmental Law Center
Western Leaders Network
Western Watersheds Project
Western Wildlife Conservancy
Wild Arizona
Wild Connections
Wild Hope
Wild Montana
WildEarth Guardians
Wilderness Workshop
Williams Community Forest Project
Winter Wildlands Alliance
World Heritage USA
Wyoming Wilderness Association

 

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