More Areas May Be Named U.S. Monuments

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt indicated Monday that he is on the verge of recommending that President Clinton declare new national monuments in Oregon and Colorado.

Ecologically diverse Soda Mountain near the Oregon-California line and a swath of canyons dotted with American Indian ruins in southwestern Colorado are “ripe for consideration” to become the fifth and sixth monuments created by Clinton this year, Babbitt said.

The areas are unique and should be protected from mining and overuse by off-road vehicles, he said.

The 1906 Antiquities Act gives presidents broad power to create monuments and decide what uses should be restricted. Clinton has created two new monuments each in California and Arizona this year, prohibiting mining and logging in sequoia groves, the Grand Canyon watershed, an arid mountain valley and hundreds of small islands in the Pacific.

Congress also may declare areas monuments. Republicans say that Clinton is circumventing the review process and ignoring the wishes of residents by unilaterally making the declarations.

“This is not about the environment. It is about the constant abuse of power by the Clinton-Gore administration,” said Rep. George Radanovich (R-Mariposa) and chairman of the House Western Caucus.

Sue Kupillas, a county commissioner who lives near Soda Mountain, questioned whether monument designation is needed.

“It could eliminate all of the multiple uses--grazing, timber harvest, recreational vehicles--anything but hiking,” she said. “If this area is so valuable today, and we’ve had multiple use all these years, why should we change it now?”

Babbitt has discussed recommending the Colorado and Oregon monuments before, and they are now “at the top of the list” as the Clinton administration works to fill out its environmental legacy, he said in a telephone interview.