The most striking memory of a visit to the Joshua Tree National Monument in the Southern California desert is likely to be an appreciation for the vast, profound silence of the place. Although the desert itself teems with plant and animal life, the near total absence of sound, particularly in the desert winter, is such an increasingly rare experience in our society that one can’t help feeling like an outsider looking in at something wondrous.
The president today will cement a legacy preserving the opportunity for all Americans to experience the beauty of this and other public lands that comes with the privilege of being born here. From the Los Angeles Times this morning:
President Obama designated three new national monuments in the California desert Thursday, expanding federal protection to 1.8 million acres of landscapes that have retained their natural beauty despite decades of heavy mining, cattle ranching and off-roading.
The monuments will link existing protected lands in a span that ranges from California to Nevada, creating swaths of uninterrupted ecological and wildlife protection:
The largest of the areas, Mojave Trails National Monument, is of historic significance, the White House said, with ancient Native American trading routes, World War II-era training camps and the longest undeveloped stretch of Route 66.
The two smaller areas — the Sand to Snow National Monument and the Castle Mountains National Monument — include Native American archaeological and cultural sites, as well as diverse wildlife, ranging from golden eagles and bighorn sheep to mountain lions and bobcats. Together, they encompass nearly 180,000 acres.
The president’s designation of these areas to receive permanent federal protection nearly doubles the million-plus public lands acres he has already saved in California, Nevada and Texas. In all, President Obama has protected more than 265 million acres, more than any previous administration (although the vast majority of that includes the expansion of a marine monument in the Pacific), in what the Washington Post characterizes as "one of the most expansive environmental and historic-preservation legacies in presidential history.“ None of this, of course, has met with the approval of the Republican Party, who would prefer to allow their oil and energy billionaire donor base to loot or otherwise despoil the lands for profit at our expense:
Republicans have criticized Mr. Obama for his aggressive use of executive power to protect lands of ecological, historic or cultural significance.
Protection for these lands was sought by Senator Dianne Feinstein through the Congress, but the Republicans balked. One caveat is that the designations do not include funding, which must be allocated by the U.S. Congress. So while their protection is assured, their upkeep and maintenance, to the extent they are necessary to facilitate tourism, hiking, camping, hunting or fishing, is not. In the past Republicans have sought to cut the funding that keeps these national treasures pristine for visitors. The only good public lands from their perspective are those that are either mined, drilled, or trampled into oblivion by grazing.
The areas embrace volcanic spires, dunes, ribbons of wetlands wedged between steep canyon walls, grasslands, Joshua tree forests, historic roadways and petroglyphs. They are home to species that thrive despite withering heat and scant rainfall: bighorn sheep, tortoises, fringe-toed lizards and more than 250 types of birds.
The use of the Antiquities Act to protect lands for all Americans and future generations is one of the most powerful tools at a president's disposal. Ironically, its broad interpretation was first employed by a Republican, Teddy Roosevelt, who unlike his party’s successors actually (and fervently) believed in conservation of the natural world. But it was another Roosevelt who made the most use of this power:
Franklin D. Roosevelt invoked the law more than any president in history; Harold L. Ickes, his interior secretary, kept a pile of potential national-monument declarations in a desk and pulled them out whenever Roosevelt was in a good mood.
The president has nearly a year to designate future monuments, and many are currently under consideration. Let’s try to keep him in a good mood.
(Further details here from MorrellWI1983).