Plan to Add Four New National Monuments Under Fire
12/14/99
*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: National Monuments Plan Under Fire
Source: The Associated Press
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: December 14, 1999
Byline: Kevin Galvin
WASHINGTON (AP) - Seeking to expand protections for sensitive lands,
President Clinton was considering recommendations today to add four
sites to the list of national monuments in the American West.
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt presented the sites to Clinton, who
was announcing the recommendations today but reserving any final
decision on the controversial plan until next year.
``This is an important decision. He will take some time to review
this,'' said White House press secretary Joe Lockhart. ``Certainly it
gives time for people who have other views to weigh in.''
Additionally, Clinton was sending to Congress today a list of 18
natural and historic sites he would like to see protected under the
administration's ``Legacy Initiative,'' a $652 million program to
protect farms, forests and urban parks.
Babbitt recommended designating 1 million acres along the north rim
of the Grand Canyon as the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument;
71,100 acres on federal lands north of Phoenix as the Agua Fria
National Monument; thousands of small federally owned islands, reefs
and rocks along the California Coast as the Coastal National
Monument; 8,000 additional acres of the Pinnacles National Monument
near San Jose.
``These recommendations are very much in the spirit of the philosophy
of the president's protection of our national treasures,'' Lockhart
said.
But state officials say the proposal will cause financial hardship to
the local economy by removing the land from the tax base and
scuttling business ventures.
``I am very concerned about the lands being eaten up by the federal
government,'' Arizona Gov. Jane Hull said.
National monuments can be designated by the President of the United
States under the Antiquities Act of 1906 or by an act of Congress.
The law gives the president authority protect any land that has
historic, scientific or archaeological significance.
Under the monument designation, land would have increased protection
against development such as mining, although some activities
including cattle grazing is still allowed.
In Phoenix on Monday, Sen. Jon Kyl said he is writing a letter urging
Clinton not to go forward with Babbitt's proposal.
Calling the proposal ``government by decree,'' Kyl said it would send
a message that the federal government doesn't care what Arizonans
think.
``It's wrong and I don't think the state of Arizona is going to stand
by and let this happen,'' Kyl said.
Mohave County Supervisor Carol Anderson said the county is already
struggling to support services, and the preservation designation
would make it worse.
But while lawmakers criticized the proposal, it was cheered by
environmental groups.
Protecting the areas from mining and off-road vehicles ``just makes
common sense,'' said Rob Smith, a spokeswoman for the Sierra Club.
``This Congress has been very reluctant to protect land. The time has
come to make a move.''