In Advance of Earth Day, the Coalitions Will Present More Than 800,000 Petition Signatures in Support of Designating and Expanding National Monuments
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, April 16, starting at 10:30 AM, members of Congress will join tribal and community leaders from across the country for a press conference and petition delivery where they will call on the Biden Administration to expand, designate, and protect national monuments and sacred lands.
Specifically, elected officials, tribal leaders, and local coalitions are calling for the designation of these proposed national monuments: Great Bend of the Gila in Arizona; the expansion of Berryessa Snow Mountain (Molok Luyuk) and San Gabriel Mountains national monuments, and designations of Chuckwalla, Sáttítla – Medicine Lake Highlands, and Kw’tsán in California; Dolores Canyons in Colorado; 1908 Springfield Race Riot in Illinois, Julius Rosenwald & Rosenwald Schools sites in Illinois and Maryland; Bahsahwahbee – Swamp Cedars in Nevada; and Owyhee Canyonlands in Oregon.
At the press conference, Senator Alex Padilla (CA), and Reps. Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-25), John Garamendi (CA-08), Judy Chu (CA-28) and Nikki Budzinski (IL-13); representatives from the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation, Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, and Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, Pit River Nation, and Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians; and local advocates will present the signatures of more than 800,000 people who are calling on President Biden to use his power under the Antiquities Act to protect the cultural, historic, and ecological resources in the places.
WHAT: ‘Monumental Call for Action’ Press Conference & Presentation of Over 800,000 Petition Signatures
WHERE: House Triangle, Washington, D.C.
WHEN: Tuesday, April 16, 10:30 AM
SPEAKERS:
U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (CA)
U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-25)
U.S. Representative Judy Chu (CA-28)
U.S. Representative John Garamendi (CA-08)
U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski (IL-13)
Chairman Thomas Tortez, Jr., Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, Chuckwalla
Chairman Yatch Bamford of the Pit River Nation, Sáttítla – Medicine Lake Highlands
Councilman Richard Williams, Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation, Bahsahwahbee
Councilman Donald Medart, Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, Kw’tsán
Miguel Luna, Director of Tribal Historic and Cultural Preservation, Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, San Gabriel Mountains
Skylar Begay, Director of Tribal Collaboration in Outreach & Advocacy, Archaeology Southwest, Great Bend of the Gila
Sandra Schubert, Executive Director, Tuleyome, Berryessa Snow Mountains
Belén Bernal Executive Director, Nature For All, San Gabriel Mountains
Frank Ruiz, Salton Sea Program Director, Audubon California, Chuckwalla
Mayor Anna Stout, Grand Junction Colorado, Dolores Canyons
Rev. T. Ray McJunkins, Lead Pastor, Union Baptist Church, 1908 Springfield Race Riot
Dorothy Canter, Ph.D., Board President, Julius Rosenwald & Rosenwald Schools National Historical Park Campaign
City Councilor Eddie Melendrez, City of Ontario, Owyhee Canyonlands
Pattie Gonia, Musician, Environmentalist, Drag Queen, Owyhee Canyonlands
The Antiquities Act of 1906 grants U.S. Presidents the ability to designate federal public lands, waters, and cultural and historical sites as national monuments with a Presidential Proclamation. Since taking office, President Biden has used the Antiquities Act to designate five national monuments – putting him on the verge of setting the record for the most public land protected by a President in their first term in the last four decades.
Although 18 U.S. presidents, nine democrats and nine republicans, have used the Antiquities Act to protect national monuments, this authority is continually threatened by Republicans in the House of Representatives. Most recently in March, the House Natural Resources Federal Lands Subcommittee held a hearing on H.R. 5499, which would forcibly sunset national monument designations while limiting future designations and undermine the meaningful Tribal engagement at the center of many modern designation efforts.
With only nine months left in President Biden’s first term, the coalition says there’s more to be done to instill permanent protections for federal lands and for Biden to secure his record in acreage of land conserved. Polling shows that 85% of voters in eight Western states overwhelmingly support new public land protections, and four in five Western voters support President Biden’s 30 x 30 goal.