Americans love their National Parks and Monuments. Perhaps you were one of the 332 million people who visited one of the 433 units of the National Park System in 2024? Yet, despite the public’s passion for these iconic landscapes, our Congressman, Jeff Hurd, has sponsored a bill that would take away the President’s authority to create new national monuments (House Bill 521).
Talk about being out of touch with his constituents…
In 1972, when I began my love affair with our national parks, the population of the United States was 207 million. You could drive into any of our national parks or monuments without a reservation and find a hotel room or campsite.
Now, with the U.S. population at 342 million people and growing, you need to make your reservation 6 to 12 months in advance—and there’s still a good chance you will not find a place to stay. And if you are lucky enough to get a hotel or campsite reservation, expect long lines at entrance stations when you arrive, crowded scenic overlooks, and a steady stream of fellow hikers on the trails.
With demand for outdoor recreation growing even more rapidly than our population, one thing is certain — we need to designate more publicly-owned lands as national parks and monuments to accommodate the rise in recreational tourism.
So, how do we do this?
There are two ways a site can become a part of the National Park System. The first is through a decades-long effort to persuade Congress to pass legislation to create a national park.
The second is by the President of the United States designating an area as a national monument under the authority of the Antiquities Act of 1906. U.S. presidents have used this authority almost 300 times to protect publicly-owned land. Forty-three percent of our national parks started out as national monuments and were later designated national parks after Congress realized the recreational and economic value of national parks to local communities.
National parks and monuments contribute $55.6 billion to the national economy and support 415,000 jobs. Our national parks and monuments cost U.S. taxpayers just 7/100 of one percent of the entire federal budget but deliver a $15 boost to the nation’s economy for every dollar invested.
Republican presidents have consistently supported creating new national monuments. Popular national parks like Arches, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Chaco Canyon, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, and Zion were originally protected as national monuments by Republican Presidents.
Colorado has four national parks and seven national monuments. Eight of these were first protected when the President of the United States designated them as national monuments.
Colorado’s Third Congressional District is the home of three national parks (Black Canyon, Great Sand Dunes, and Mesa Verde) and three national monuments (Hovenweep, Yucca House, and Colorado National Monument). With the exception of Mesa Verde, all began their life in the National Park System after first being protected as a national monument by the President.
Colorado National Monument, located next to Jeff Hurd’s hometown of Grand Junction, was originally designated as a national monument in 1933 by Republican President William Taft and later enlarged by Republican Presidents Herbert Hoover and Dwight Eisenhower. If Congessman Hurd had his way, these presidents would not have had the authority to protect the spectacular landscape of Colorado National Monument and instead it would be open to logging, mining, and oil and gas drilling.
Isn’t it about time Congressman Hurd represented his constituents’ interests rather than the private companies that want to plunder our precious publicly-owned lands? He can start by withdrawing his support for House Bill 521 and instead proposing legislation to create additional national parks and monuments.
Robin Smith
Paonia CO