A Monumental Cause

President Clinton stirred up a hornets’ nest in 1996 when he designated Utah’s 1.9-million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante region as a national monument. Rep. James V. Hansen (R-Utah) called it the “biggest land grab in the nation,” never mind that it was federally owned land in the first place. The truth is, designating the colorful wild region in southern Utah a monument gave it the special protection from exploitation and development--especially coal strip mining--that it deserved.

Protection afforded by national monument status can vary, but usually it is less restrictive than in national parks. Activities such as oil and gas development and mining generally are not allowed, although existing mineral projects and livestock grazing may be permitted to continue. Hunting is also occasionally allowed. All the lands under consideration are administered by the Bureau of Land Management, but monuments usually are incorporated into the national parks system.

Hansen and others expressed shock that the president would take such action without fully informing them well in advance. Clinton did keep his plans quiet, but only to prevent Hansen and his allies from having time to mount a campaign in Congress to contest the decision. Subsequently, opponents have sought to amend the Antiquities Act of 1906 to abridge the president’s authority to create monuments on his own. That would require the approval of Congress and of the affected state’s governor and legislature.

The Senate has refused to approve such overly restrictive legislation, a good thing because Clinton is getting ready to stir up the hornets again, although this time he’s giving fair warning. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt has been holding hearings in Western states on administration plans to create as many as 13 monuments, unless Congress itself does so in the coming year.

The list includes the Santa Rosa Mountains near Palm Springs, the Carrizo Plain in the San Joaquin Valley, the Otay Mountains east of San Diego and a number of islands and rocks off the California coast. Clinton’s foes claim that Congress never intended to grant the president such authority in the Antiquities Act, but the law has been used to create monuments since 1906 by all presidents except Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George Bush. Considerable portions of existing national parks, including Grand Canyon and Grand Teton, were saved as monuments before being incorporated into the national park system by Congress.

This time the members of Congress have ample warning of Clinton’s plans. If they fail to protect those lands themselves, the president should do so before leaving office. And if Congress tries to amend the Antiquities Act to tie a president’s hands on monument designation, the bill should be vetoed.