Comment Ideas: Why Grand Canyon-Parashant Should Be Kept As Is

June 05 2017

Bob Wick, BLM California

by Ed Grumbine, Lands Director

The official website for Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument says it all — this is the place “where the West stays wild.” But it is going to take comments from you, along with those from many other Americans, to maintain protections for this place.

Grand Canyon-Parashant, along with Bears Ears in Utah and 25 other national monuments, is under review by the Trump administration. The president has directed Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke to review all these monuments for revocation, resizing, or other modifications using the mistaken assumption that they were created without adequate public input, and through a process that somehow restricts public access and curtails economic growth. Your comments can help set the record straight.

Submit your comments to the Department of the Interior online ›

Or, if you’re pressed for time, customize your message here and we can send your comments to Secretary Zinke through our platform.

If you’ve already commented on Bears Ears, you can still submit comments for Grand Canyon-Parashant. Read on for ideas on what to write.

What exactly does Grand Canyon-Parashant protect?

In January 2000, when President Bill Clinton used the power of the Antiquities Act to set aside a little-known part of the Arizona Strip contiguous with the Grand Canyon, he was acting in the best interest of all Americans. By using the Antiquities Act to create a million acre monument out of lands that locals call the “Parashant,” Clinton protected our historical and scientific heritage — meeting the express purpose of the law.

Some places contain so much of what makes America great that it takes sweeping action to protect them. Parashant is one such place.

Parashant’s proclamation describes three classes of “objects” that serve as reasons for the monument’s existence:

Geological features — Fossils, faults, and vast stretches of open land reveal a “clear view to understanding the geological history of the Colorado Plateau.”
Ecological convergence — In Parashant, four Southwestern communities of plants and animals from the Sonoran, Mojave, Great Basin, and Colorado Plateau deserts mix and mingle on a vast scale unlike anywhere else.
Historical objects — The oldest are from the Archaic Period, stretching back to 7,000 B.C., when hunters and gatherers left behind rock art, stone tool quarries, watchtowers, and burial sites. The Ancestral Puebloans followed. Over 1,500 years, they left pit houses, agricultural fields, and more. After the passing of the Puebloans, the Southern Paiute lived in Parashant and had deep ties to the land when the first pioneers arrived. Finally, corrals, fences, water tanks and ranch house ruins tell stories of the hard lives families had on remote ranches during the 19th and 20th centuries.

What should you write?

No need to craft long essays. Brief, personalized comments can be just as impactful. Remember to keep your comments positive, and emphasize the legacy the secretary could leave by keeping Grand Canyon-Parashant as it is. Consider these points as you craft your comments:

Start with who you are and your personal connection to Parashant. Identify credentials that may distinguish your comment from others. Are you an archaeology enthusiast, backcountry hiker, or local business owner? Say so!
Clearly state your position in support of Grand Canyon-Parashant.
Support your comment with facts (keep reading for some ideas on what to include here)
Describe the anticipated personal impacts of a monument reversal or modification.
End with a call to keep Grand Canyon-Parashant as it is.

It's important to submit your comment before the July 10 deadline. Comment now ›

What's under review:

The secretary is required by Trump’s executive order to consider various issues in making his recommendations to eliminate or alter Grand Canyon-Parashant and other monuments boundaries. These issues relate to whether the designations meet the requirements of the Antiquities Act, including:

Monument size and the presence of historic and prehistoric sites and other items of scientific interest
How the designations affect “available uses” of federal lands
The effect on state and private lands within and near the monument boundaries
Tribal, state, and local concerns
The availability of funding to manage the monuments
And “such other factors as the Secretary deems appropriate.”

Points to include in your comments

Here’s a short list of points you can use to craft your comments to the secretary:

The Antiquities Act was specifically designed to protect places like Grand Canyon-Parashant

Parashant is a large national monument by design and needs to remain so to protect our heritage. Protecting the meeting ground of four major desert ecosystems requires a large area. The sheer quantity of archaeological and historical sites found on Parashant also requires lots of territory. Any shrinkage of Parashant’s boundaries will compromise the reasons why it was created in the first place.

Grand Canyon-Parashant is public land that remains open to many uses

Grand Canyon-Parashant was public land before being declared a national monument, and it remains public land open to many uses today. It is not locked up — grazing continues, and visitors hunt, fish, have motorized access to hundreds of miles of roads, and engage in many kinds of outdoor recreation. Scientific research on topics such as weather, bats, and cave biology is also an important use of monument lands.

Grand Canyon-Parashant was created after extensive public input

It is simply not true that Grand Canyon-Parashant was designated without adequate public outreach and extensive stakeholder input. Then Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbit visited the region three times, and there were two large public meetings and over 50 smaller meetings to discuss the proposed monument.

Monuments improve local economies

Headwaters Economics, a non-partisan research firm, found that national monuments have positive impacts on local communities. Since Parashant’s designation, mining and timber jobs in surrounding towns have held steady, while service jobs — including jobs for doctors, engineers, and teachers — have increased by 56 percent. People enjoy the quality of life that protected public lands afford and make decisions about where to live and work accordingly.

Grand Canyon-Parashant enjoys overwhelming public support

Parashant has relatively fewer visitors than other monuments in the region, but the people who come here are drawn to its special qualities—wide open spaces, freedom to explore without crowds, and countless archaeological and historical sites to discover. A recent poll found 80 percent of westerners want to keep our national monuments as they are. Changing Parashant’s boundaries would only reduce these qualities that attract Americans to this unique monument. Proper care and management of this place depends on protection of ecological and cultural common grounds.