THE WHITE HOUSE AT WORK
Friday, June 9, 2000
PRESIDENT CLINTON AND VICE PRESIDENT GORE:
PROTECTING
AMERICA'S NATURAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE
"These lands are among America's great natural treasures,
and we owe it to future generations to preserve them. We act today so that
years from now, Americans will still be able to paddle free-flowing waters and
hike pristine peaks, enjoying these extraordinary stretches of our natural
heritage."
Vice President Al Gore
Friday, June 9, 2000
Today, at the White House, President Clinton and Vice President Gore
announced the creation of four new national monuments in Colorado, Oregon,
Washington, and Arizona. Today's action will protect federal lands which
represent unique, irreplaceable pieces of America's natural and cultural
heritage. The Clinton-Gore Administration is calling on Congress to stop
loading up budget bills with legislative riders that would jeopardize any
national monuments created this year and threaten important environmental and
public health protections.
Preserving our Heritage through Land Stewardship. In 1906,
Congress passed the Antiquities Act, authorizing the President to create
national monuments on federally owned lands to protect "objects of historic and
scientific interest." Since then, over 100 monuments have been designated in 24
states and the Virgin Islands, protecting some 70 million acres. Last year,
President Clinton directed Interior Secretary Babbitt to report to him on
unique and fragile federal lands in need of protection. Based on the
Secretary's recommendation, the President today protected the following lands
as monuments:
- Canyons of the Ancients – A treasure trove of
ancient culture, this 164,000-acre monument 9 miles west of Mesa Verde National
Park in Colorado contains the highest-known density of archeological sites
anywhere in the U.S., with well-preserved remnants of human history going back
thousands of years
- Cascade-Siskiyou – This 52,000-acre monument in
southern Oregon includes Soda Mountain and surrounding lands rich in plant and
animal life. Its location at the convergence of the Klamath and Cascade
Mountains makes the area an ecological wonder with biological diversity
unmatched in the Cascade Range.
- Hanford Reach – Located in south central
Washington, this 195,000-acre monument straddles one of the last free-flowing
stretches of the Columbia River, a critical area for spawning salmon. It
contains a wealth of wildlife and remnants of human history spanning more than
10,000 years.
- Ironwood Forest – This 129,000-acre monument in the
Sonoran Desert 25 miles northwest of Tucson contains rich stands of ironwood
trees which can live more than 800 years, and a stunning diversity of bird and
animal life well-adapted to the high, rugged desert country.
Each monument includes only lands already owned and managed by the
federal government. Private property rights are not affected, and valid
existing rights on the federal lands are preserved.
Calling on Congress to Drop Anti-Environmental
“Riders.” With today's action, President Clinton has protected
more land as national monuments in the lower 48 states than any president in
history. But once again, the Republicans are loading up budget bills with
legislative “riders” that threaten important environmental and public
health protections. The current wave of anti-environmental riders, which the
President and Vice President are calling on Congress to drop, include:
- Prohibiting any spending on improvements or protections at new
national monuments;
- Blocking action on global warming;
- Crippling clean water protections and blocking safe drinking
water standards;
- Undermining pesticide safety standards;
- Denying communities help on river restoration; and
- Blocking new protections for wildlife.
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