Tag: National Monuments

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Help Save Our National Monuments!

What do our National Monuments mean to you? Do you think of them as places to play, to recreate and enjoy the beauty of our public lands? Do you think of them as places that protect the past, conserving prehistoric fossils and Ancestral Puebloan ruins? Do you think of them as “mini-National Parks”? Do you think of them as a way to offer important American landmarks a level of protection?

Mt. San Jacinto
Santa Rosa & San Jacinto National Monument

There’s a bill before the House right now you should know about. It’s HR 3990, The “National Monument Creation & Protection Act”.

Don’t let the title fool you. It’s not about national monument creation. It’s about national monument destruction and the evisceration of the Antiquities Act.

 

Valley of the Gods, Utah
Bear’s Ears National Monument

A Few Provisions of this Bill:

  • It would change the language, striking “historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest” and inserting “object or objects of antiquity”.
  • Limit the size of any new national monuments, in some cases to no more than 640 acres.
  • Limit a national monument’s proximity to other national monuments.
  • The President could remove up to 85,000 acres from existing national monuments, even more with agreement from a state’s governor and legislature.
  • Prohibits national monuments that protect oceans.
Gold Butte, Nevada
Gold Butte National Monument

A Little Historic Background

There are a few misconceptions out there about what the Antiquities Act is all about. Even in the very earliest days of the Antiquities Act, the “scientific interest” clause was important. Of the 18 national monuments created by Theodore Roosevelt, one third were created to preserve places of scientific interest. Proponents of this bill state that the Antiquities Act was only created to preserve objects of antiquity.

Proponents of this act state that the original act was meant to preserve only small areas. Is the Grand Canyon a small area? Fully half of our national parks started out as national monuments, most in excess of 85,000 acres at their creation as national monuments.

Sunset at Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon National Park

Think of Zion, Canyonlands, Death Valley, Olympic, Katmai, Wrangell-St. Elias, just to name a few. If the Antiquities Act meant what proponents of H.R. 3990 believe it does, none of these crown jewels would have ever received protection. Just think of the loss to our national heritage if these lands had not been protected!

The most troubling clause of this bill is the ability of the president to drastically reduce the size of existing national monuments. This means that any of our national monuments can be arbitrarily reduced by up to 85,000 acres at any time and for any reason. Essentially it means a national monument designation is no protection at all.

 

T Rex Skull, Dinosaur Ntnl. Monument
Dinosaur National Monument

It’s Not All Bad News

There is a ray of hope. New Mexico’s Senator Tom Udall has sponsored another bill, S. 2354, the Antiquities Act of 2018. This bill reaffirms and strengthens the original Antiquities Act and will demonstrate the public’s support for our national monuments. This bill currently needs more sponsors.

 

Sand Canyon, Canyon of the Ancients, Colorado
Canyon of the Ancients National Monument

What You Can Do

  • Educate yourself about just how important the Antiquities Act and our National Monuments are. Here’s a link to get started.
  • Write your congressman. Let them know that you support the Antiquities Act and do not support HR 3990.
  • Write your senators. Let them know you support the Antiquities Act and Senate bill S. 2354 and ask them to help sponsor this bill.
  • Donate to organizations that are fighting the repeal of the Antiquities Act.
  • The BLM is preparing management plans for the reduced Bear’s Ears and Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monuments proposed by Trump, even though the court cases challenging the legality of this action have not yet been heard. There is a comment period open until April 11. Protest this action. Comments must be sent individually for each National Monument.
    TeePee Rocks, Grand Staircase, Utah
    Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

    Make comments for Bear’s Ears and Grand Staircase/Escalante here.

  • Spread the word! Tell your friends and neighbors about this unprecedented threat to some of our most sacred places.
  • Be an activist! Organize or join a rally or demonstration in support of the Antiquities Act.

Our national monuments have never been so endangered. It’s up to us to speak up and let our voices be heard. Time is short. Let our government know now how much you care about our public lands.

 

 

 

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Sand to Snow

Scrub Jay, Big Morongo Canyon Preserve

I recently got a little taste of Sand to Snow National Monument, one of our newer national monuments threatened by the stinky Zinke review. I started out with a visit to Big Morongo Canyon, designated by the BLM as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern and the American Bird Conservancy as an Important Bird Area. So, of course, I planned on taking a bird watching tour. I’m not much of an early morning riser. As usual, I was a day late and a dollar short – missed the guided walk by about 30 minutes. I had to explore the Preserve on my own.

California Towhee
Lots of birds to see in Sand to Snow!

A brilliant chorus of bird song greeted me the moment I stepped from the car. It didn’t take me long to realize that diversity is key in Sand to Snow – within a quarter of a mile I could see palm trees on one side of the boardwalk, and pine trees on the other! Even though I’m not much good at identifying passerines, I was delighted to be able to add the Least Bell’s Vireo, an endangered species, to my life list. The elegance of this bird’s tiny slender lines more than make up for its non-descript color. In less than a mile, I passed through marshy wetlands and deciduous forest to a mesquite bosque that led to a yucca and cholla filled open ridgeline. Diversity, indeed!

Pine trees and Palm trees in Big Morongo Canyon Preserve
From Palms to Pines

This 154,00 acre national monument consists mostly of the already federally designated San Gorgonio Wilderness and lands donated by the Wildlands Conservancy, an organization which has quietly been buying up key pieces of SoCal real estate to preserve for future generations. They manage the largest nonprofit nature preserve system in California. Their mission – “To preserve the beauty and biodiversity of the earth and to provide programs so that children may know the wonder and joy of nature.” Good people. Give them money if you live in SoCal and have it. This organization has donated lands at Whitewater, Mission Creek, and the Pioneertown Mountains. If you are hiking into the San Gorgonio Wilderness, you will probably hike through their lands to get there.

Whitwater Creek and the San Bernardino Mountains
Whitewater Preserve

What they have preserved is vital. Sand to Snow protects some of the most biodiverse lands in southern California, lands extremely threatened by development. It is an essential wildlife corridor, connecting many of southern California’s ecological islands, from the San Jacinto and San Bernardino Mountains to Joshua Tree National Park. Over 240 species of birds can be found in the Big Morongo Preserve alone. There are 12 federally endangered animals protected within the monument. You can find species ranging from kangaroo rats to black bears. In fact, the monument protects the highest density of black bears in southern California.

Whitewater Preserve
1600 different plant species are found in Sand to Snow

The plant diversity is even more important than the animals. This is the most botanically rich monument in the country! It is home to 1600 different species of plants. Habitats range from lowland desert to alpine. You can find three different deserts here – the Colorado, Sonoran and Mojave. You can visit the southernmost stand of aspen trees in the U.S. You can even hike above timberline on 11,500-foot San Gorgonio, the tallest mountain in California south of the Sierras.

My next visit was to the Whitewater Preserve, located about 5 miles west of Palm Springs. The Preserve protects a riparian habitat, a rare habitat to find in the SoCal deserts.

If you know me, you know I have an incredible phobia of big cities and traffic. Staying in Desert Hot Springs for a week, I was already pushing my comfort zone. I could not believe I was braving I-10 and driving even closer to L.A. than I already was, but it was worth it.

Sand to Snow National Monument
Whitewater Preserve’s rugged terrain is home to Peninsular Desert Bighorn Sheep, an endangered species.

I come from a land of REALLY big mountains, with a 16,000-foot peak pretty much in my back yard at home, but even so, I was struck by the size of Mt. San Jacinto across the highway. It’s a bit over 10,000 feet, but that’s 10,000 feet straight up, with no intervening foothills. Impressive! Although it’s not in the monument, Mt. San Jacinto is indicative of Sand to Snow’s terrain, some of the steepest and most rugged land in southern California. I found Whitewater to be more geologically impressive than Big Morongo, too. The rugged cliffs here are home to Peninsular Bighorn Sheep, an endangered species.

Cholla Cactus on Yucca Ridge, Big Morongo Canyon
Sand to Snow protects a diversity of habitats.

Don’t expect solitude when visiting Sand to Snow. 24 million people live within a 2-hour drive, and the San Gorgonio Wilderness is the most visited wilderness in southern California. That said, it’s not especially crowded, much less so than most national parks. Another great thing about Sand to Snow is you can camp here. For free. That’s right, for FREE! You DO have to call and make reservations, though. Visit the Whitewater or Mission Creek/Pioneertown Mountains websites of the Wildlands Conservancy for more details.

In addition to its rich natural history, Sand to Snow also protects a rich human history. San Gorgonio is sacred to the Serrano and Cahuilla people. There is an abundance of archaeological sites in the monument, and about 1700 petroglyphs. Explore this national monument. You never know what you’ll find around the next bend in the trail!

Big Morongo Canyon leads into Joshua Tree National park
Sand to Snow is an important wildlife corridor, connecting Joshua Tree National Park to other southern California wildlands.

Sand to Snow, managed jointly by the USFS, BLM, and Wildlands Conservancy, is currently beginning work on a management plan. If you would like to be included in the process, please contact the San Bernardino National Forest at (909) 382-2600.

I only got a tiny taste of the monument, visiting Big Morongo Canyon and Whitewater. I look forward to future visits (Mission Creek is next on my list), and a chance to spend a little more time in this very special national treasure.