By Kate Groetzinger
In a new interactive report, the Center for Western Priorities explores the history of opposition to eight national parks and monuments and envisions the destruction that could have been if these places weren’t protected.
If presidents and congressional leaders in the past had listened to these opposing voices, iconic landscapes like Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, and Joshua Tree National Parks would likely have been marred by mining and logging operations.
Despite their popularity, proposals for public land protections almost always face vehement opposition from small but vocal minorities. These criticisms are nothing new. For over a century, parks and monuments that protect our country’s proudest landscapes have been established despite heated—sometimes violent—opposition. Even the most celebrated parks once faced the same tired objections as today’s national monument proposals.
This report follows a report released by the Center for Western Priorities in 2016 which explored the opposition faced by another set of parks and monuments. This report looks at Bears Ears, Avi Kwa Ame, and Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon national monuments, which faced the same empty and misinformed opposition highlighted in the 2016 report.
The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Creative Content and Policy Manager Lilly Bock-Brownstein:
“The groups opposed to conservation proposals have been using the same outdated and reactionary arguments for over a century, which are now exacerbated by the online spread of disinformation and conspiracy theories. Congressional leaders can choose to be on the right side of history by ignoring these hollow claims and acting to protect America’s public lands.
“Landscapes like Oregon’s Owyhee Canyonlands are likely to remain unprotected and open to development unless state-level leaders are willing to ask President Biden to designate them as national monuments. Future generations will thank them for protecting these extraordinary places and look back on their opponents as being on the wrong side of history.”
Kate Groetzinger is Communications Manager for the Center for Western Priorities.