New ad campaign urges President Biden to designate more national monuments

Denver — A new ad campaign from the Center for Western Priorities is urging President Joe Biden to designate new national monuments in order to protect several American landscapes and inspire voters.

The ad, “More Monuments,” reminds President Biden that outdoor voters place an emphasis on protecting public lands, making the designation of new national monuments important to the administration’s conservation record. The ad is part of a six-figure ad buy that will air on CNN and MSNBC in the Denver, Phoenix, Tucson, and Reno markets, on Hulu in Washington, DC and online over the next six weeks.

“More Monuments” captures the unity and sense of progress that national monuments can inspire. Using up-close testimonials from outdoor enthusiasts on a protected Western landscape, the ad begins, “As a voter, it’s nice to see progress. To know we are going somewhere.” The ad continues, “by creating new national monuments, President Biden can give Western voters something to get excited about.” Outdoor voters go on to assert in the ad that, “National monuments bring us together as Americans. National monuments unite us. National monuments inspire millions of outdoor voters.”

The Center for Western Priorities’ Winning the West polls, conducted over recent election cycles, consistently find proactive conservation efforts and protecting new public lands have broad, bipartisan support and play a notable role in how Western voters choose to vote. A new Winning the West poll for 2023 will be released in the coming weeks.

“Our latest ad sends a clear message to President Biden that the designation of new national monuments is good for his conservation legacy and for inspiring Westerners with real progress,” Center for Western Priorities executive director Jennifer Rokala said. “The Winning the West project demonstrates time and again that conservation is both a winning and a unifying issue in the West. We hope President Biden will take this opportunity to inspire millions by continuing to safeguard our cherished landscapes for generations to come.”

The new ad and polling research are part of the Center for Western Priorities’ Winning the West project. Over the past several election cycles, Winning the West has documented public land conservation as a winning campaign issue due to a growing number of bipartisan and independent Westerners who vote to keep the West’s public lands protected and accessible.

Since taking office, President Biden has designated four national monuments, including Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument in Colorado, Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada, Castner Range National Monument in Texas, and most recently a national monument honoring Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, across three locations in Mississippi and Illinois. He also restored the original boundaries of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, which the Trump administration attempted to shrink.

This track record demonstrates a commitment towards President Biden’s goal of protecting 30 percent of national lands and water by 2030, and Western voices are hoping it is a sign of more progress to come.