Obama to designate 5 new national monuments Phil Taylor, E&E reporter Published: Friday, March 22, 2013 President Obama will declare five new national monuments Monday, ranging from 240,000 acres on a high-desert plateau in northern New Mexico to early European settlement sites along the Delaware River. The designations are aimed, in part, at quieting critics who in recent months have called on the president to expand his use of the 1906 Antiquities Act to conserve land as compensation for lands the administration has made available for oil and gas development. The monuments are Rio Grande del Norte in New Mexico; the First State National Monument in Delaware; the Harriet Tubman National Monument on Maryland's Eastern Shore; the Charles Young National Monument in Xenia, Ohio; and the San Juan Islands National Monument off Washington state. While all five monuments are strongly supported by environmentalists, local officials and their congressional delegations, they will likely draw criticism from Republicans who argue monuments should be vetted and approved by Congress. The designations will burnish the conservation record of outgoing Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who has made personal visits to at least two of the monument locations -- Rio Grande del Norte and the San Juan Islands -- over the past year to gauge public support for a presidential designation. Environmental and historical preservation groups this morning praised the new designations, arguing that a gridlocked Congress was unlikely to protect them. "The last Congress was the most anti-environmental in history, so President Obama is right to respond to the calls of local communities that want their public lands protected for the environmental, cultural and economic benefits they provide," said John Podesta, a former chief of staff for President Clinton who founded the liberal Center for American Progress. "This marks a significant development where President Obama has begun to put his mark on protecting the national treasure of America for future generations." Clinton used the Antiquities Act nearly two dozen times, designating 19 national monuments and expanding three existing monuments to protect more than 5 million acres, according to the Conservation Lands Foundation, citing National Park Service statistics. Almost all of those designations took place in Clinton's second term. Obama next week will have designated nine national monuments covering close to 300,000 acres. The largest of those will be Rio Grande del Norte, a 240,000-acre sagebrush mesa split by a rugged river gorge near the New Mexico border with Colorado. Environmentalists have called the area one of the most ecologically significant in the state, citing its importance to elk, bald eagles, peregrine falcons and great horned owls. The Rio Grande Gorge and Taos Plateau are also used extensively by hunters, rafters and hikers. "For years, our community of sportsmen, ranchers, small business owners and other citizens across northern New Mexico has worked collaboratively with our members of Congress to protect it," Taos Mayor Darren Córdova said. According to one administration source, the president's monument proclamation is expected to follow the contours of legislation introduced this year by Sens. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and originally pushed by former Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.). Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) sponsored companion legislation in the House. "Protecting the Río Grande del Norte means we are not only preserving this beautiful space, but ensuring that it will continue to be used by anglers, ranchers, and land grant heirs," Bingaman said in a statement this morning. "It is my hope that this decision has a very positive impact on the economy of the region." But Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member, last week requested that the Heinrich-Udall bill, S. 241, be removed from a markup of nearly 20 public lands measures (Greenwire, March 14). A Murkowski spokesman said the lands surrounding the conservation area could contain natural gas and that it was unclear whether the legislation was supported by New Mexico's Republican governor. An email to Gov. Susana Martinez this morning was not returned. Still, the monument is backed by Taos County and the Taos and Mora Valley chambers of commerce as well as sportsmen's, conservation and Latino groups and some ranchers, many of whom showed up to voice their support at a public meeting last December hosted by Salazar and other top Interior officials (Greenwire, Dec. 17, 2012). The Rio Grande designation would mark the first landscape-scale monument designation for Obama, whose first four monuments in Virginia, California and Colorado protected historic forts, archaeological sites and the home of labor leader César Chávez. Environmentalists will no doubt be clamoring for more ecologically significant designations in Obama's second term, including hundreds of thousands of acres north of the Grand Canyon in Arizona and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, though the president's monument powers are restricted in Alaska. The San Juan Islands monument will protect roughly 1,000 acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management that is home to bald eagles, orcas, harbor seals and other rare species. The area, which includes historic lighthouses and fossils dating back 12,000 years, is popular with campers, kayakers and birdwatchers, BLM said. "Where the San Juan Islands meet the sea are some of the most beautiful, serene spots in the world," said Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), who co-sponsored a bill with Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) to create a national conservation area at the islands. "This decision will permanently protect these pristine spots for future generations to enjoy." With Monday's designations, Obama will also burnish his historical preservation credentials by preserving early Swedish, Dutch and English settlements in Delaware and sites of historical significance to African-Americans in Ohio and Maryland. The First State designation is also significant because Delaware is the last state without a national park unit. According to lawmakers, the First State monument will follow legislation introduced earlier this year by Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) to preserve and interpret resources on early settlements and recount Delaware's role in the signing of the Constitution. The designation will also include the 1,100-acre Woodlawn property in the Brandywine River Valley in Delaware and Pennsylvania, which was recently donated to the National Park Service by the Conservation Fund. The property, which was originally acquired by William Penn from the Duke of York in 1682, is near where George Washington's troops fought Great Britain in the largest battle of the American Revolution, according to the Conservation Fund. "History will be made in the place where it all began," said Blaine Phillips, senior vice president and mid-Atlantic regional director for the Conservation Fund. "President Obama's designation of the Woodlawn property as part of the First State National Monument will be a celebration of Delaware's rich contributions to American history and its inherent natural beauty." More details on the monuments, including their sizes and management objectives, likely will be made available Monday. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/