Commentary: In December 2017, President Trump attacked our national monuments, and by extension declared war our natural, cultural, and historic heritage. His announcement triggered the largest reduction of protected lands in American history, which decimated the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah.
For the last one hundred years, national monuments have protected our most iconic landscapes, and historic, and cultural sites. Before the Grand Canyon was designated a National Park, it was a national monument. And, perhaps the country’s most important symbol of freedom, the Statue of Liberty is today a National Monument. President Trump and his Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke have placed personal interest on the great conservation legacy of our country, rather than protecting our most treasured places so that our children and grandchildren may have access to the outdoors and may learn how important nature has been to American identity.
I live near the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in Las Cruces, another place on Secretary Zinke’s list in which he recommends ‘changes’ to the management of the monument. Removing protections from these places is like someone going into your grandmother’s house and claiming “this stuff is no longer yours”. There’s a deep sense of violation that comes with having your lands taken away, at the expense of politics, special and business interests.
Our national monuments and other protected public lands are where we all can go to connect with nature and in some way our identity. our country. As a first generation US citizen, these lands have always been a way for me to understand and connect with our country, and of course a place to find tranquility and peace. They also hold so much of our culture and history, and as a scholar of cultural anthropology, I am horrified to consider losing places like Bears Ears or the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks that can teach us so much about different cultures and histories in our country.
Secretary Zinke and members of Congress, including Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee Rob Bishop have made it clear that they wish to gut the Antiquities Act. The Antiquities Act is the tool that allows the President to protect national monuments. It is a cornerstone conservation law signed into law in 1906 by Theodore Roosevelt and it is resolutely bi-partisan, as 8 Democrats and 8 Republicans have used the Act since its inception. Our communities can and must stand up to the assault on our national monuments being perpetrated by the Trump Administration.
Thankfully, not all our elected leaders are working to dismantle our cherished conservation legacy and laws. A new bill has just been introduced in the United States Senate to protect the Antiquities Act and our national monuments. This initiative is led by Tom Udall and co-sponsored by 18 other senators, including Martin Heinrich. They have heard the will of New Mexicans and the millions of Americans who spoke out against President Trump’s attack on national monuments. Our New Mexico national monuments, including Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, Rio Grande Del Norte, and others are rich with unique cultural sites and artifacts that I’ve been lucky enough to study. I fear that without Senator Udall’s new Antiquities Act bill, their protections are at risk and may not be able to teach future generations of scholars.
The attack on our protected public lands, which has begun with Bears Ears and Grand Staircase, will surely continue if we remain silent. We must defend our heritage. Anyone who wishes to have access to wild lands wants to learn from our mosaic of cultures and histories must voice their concerns now. We must fight to defend the future of conservation here in America, including the Antiquities Act and national monuments, from President Trump’s attacks. Thank goodness for our senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich for leading the charge.
Norma Hartell is a curator and has a masters in cultural anthropology from New Mexico State University. She lives in Mesquite, New Mexico.