It’s time for President Biden to go big on public land protections
President Joe Biden has already taken big steps to roll back the damage to our public lands caused by the Trump administration. But fixing mistakes is not enough. Americans are hungry for new places to recreate outdoors and want to see Western lands protected. Unfortunately, the rate of congressional land protections has slowed over the past decade.
Fortunately, the president has the power to protect lands by designating new national monuments via his authority under the Antiquities Act — and the Center for Western Priorities is calling on him to use it. In a video ad released this week, CWP is calling on President Biden to respond to Americans’ desire for new national monuments.
President Biden’s progress so far includes his designation of Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument in Colorado and his pledge to protect Avi Kwa Ame as a national monument in Nevada. But it’s time to think bigger and protect more treasured places as national monuments to help achieve the president’s America the Beautiful goal of protecting 30 percent of America’s lands and waters by 2030.
Places like Avi Kwa Ame, Castner Range in Texas, Dolores River Canyon in Colorado, and Caja del Rio in New Mexico not only have important cultural and ecological significance, but they also represent a promise to future generations to safeguard some of the most breathtaking spaces in our country for all to enjoy.
According to CWP’s recent Winning the West Poll, a strong majority of Western voters — 76 percent — approve of President Biden’s America the Beautiful initiative, including 92 percent of Democrats, 75 percent of Independents, and 59 percent of Republicans. At the same time a majority of Westerners (66 percent) agree that the current administration has not done enough to create and protect new public lands and national monuments. 81 percent of Westerners support President Biden’s previous actions to restore the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments.
Locally, 86 percent of Coloradans support establishing the Dolores River Canyon area as a national monument. 80 percent of voters in New Mexico support proposals to preserve Caja del Rio and 77 percent of Nevada voters support a proposal to designate Avi Kwa Ame as a national monument.
In a recent report, CWP found that Congress has failed to act on bills to protect over 16 million acres of public land in the West. Worsening partisan gridlock has caused progress on conservation to grind to a halt, with Congress only protecting 3.3 million acres from 2011 to 2021 — one-third of what had been protected the previous decade. President Biden has the opportunity to deliver for the communities who have worked hard on these popular conservation proposals — and for the many Americans who will visit them once they become protected public lands.
