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THE ANTIQUITIES ACT
A Vital Part of Our National Heritage
May 2017
Image Courtesy Bureau of Land Management
The Mountain Pact educates and mobilizes western mountain communities around federal
policy affecting public lands, climate change and outdoor recreation.
www.themountainpact.org
Image Courtesy National Parks Service
ANTIQUITIES ACT AND OUR AMERICAN NATURAL HERITAGE
National public lands are an integral part of the
fabric of western communities and a major driver
of local economies. Many western mountain
towns are the gateway to public lands, the access
point for the public to enjoy and recreate in these
open spaces. Public lands help western mountain
gateway communities to diversify economically
while increasing quality of life and recreational
opportunities. This in turn makes those communities
more attractive to new residents, investments,
entrepreneurs and small businesses. The
Antiquities Act is an important tool for protecting
public lands that drive local economies in the
Intermountain West. Through national monument
designations, Congress or the President can act to
protect and enhance the American public lands
system. Attempts to weaken the Antiquities Act
and rescind or reduce national monuments are
a threat to our American heritage. An attack on
the Antiquities Act is an attack on all American
public lands and the communities and economies
that rely on them.
Intention of the Antiquities Act
The Antiquities Act - signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 - authorizes presidents to
designate nationally owned land as a national monument, increasing protection of historically,
culturally, and scientifically important resources.1 The Act was created in an effort to preserve
American land after looting of cultural and natural heritage in the Southwest United States.2
The Antiquities Act is a true cornerstone of American preservation and
conservation law. Since its inception, 16 presidents -- eight Democrats
and eight Republicans -- have used the authority of the Antiquities Act to
proclaim 157 national monuments protecting nearly 100 billion acres of
federal public lands to be protected and enhanced for the benefit and
enjoyment of the American people.3 Congress also has the power to
declare national monuments, and has done so 40 times.4 The Antiquities
Act allows the federal government to preserve landscapes of ecological
and cultural significance and has played a crucial role in the growth of
our national park system. In 2015 the National Park System reported
307 million visits5 and has unofficially reported a record breaking 330
million visits in 2016,6 further highlighting the level of engagement by the
American public to enjoy the diverse outdoor recreation opportunities
of federally protected public lands; as well as, the value to towns and
individuals near these designated lands who rely on this tourism for their
livelihoods.
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OUR NATURAL HERITAGE IS VITAL TO ECOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC WELL-BEING
Public lands drive our economy, help to supply
clean air and water, and define an American way
of life. Managing America’s parks and public
lands is one of the things that Americans believe
our government does well: the 2017 Colorado
College annual ‘Conservation in the West’ poll
showed strong approval of our federal land
managers and support for the continued protection
of public lands, of which “sixty-eight percent of
respondents said they prefer protecting water, air
and wildlife while providing opportunities to visit
and recreate on national public lands.”7 That is
compared to twenty-two percent of respondents
who said they “prefer the administration to place
an emphasis on producing more domestic energy
by increasing the amount of national public lands
available for responsible drilling and mining.”8
We have too much to lose if we allow national
public lands to be put at risk of irresponsible
development or be subject to land transfer. Studies
have shown that land use is one of the major
contributors to watershed health.9 Watersheds
provide a variety of important ecosystem services
such as water filtration/purification; seasonal
flow regulation; erosion and sediment control;
and habitat preservation, and it has been shown
that protected watersheds are more likely to
function properly and continue to provide these
services than watersheds that are not protected.
Additionally, increased spending on watershed
protection has been found to decrease overall
costs associated with water treatment operations.10
Since most freshwater originates in mountains,
the continued protection of these ecosystems that
surround our mountain communities is paramount
to the health of all things downstream.11
Moreover, outdoor recreation stemming from
public lands fuels western mountain communities’
economies. The outdoor recreation industry is
an economic powerhouse in the United States,
contributing an estimated $887 billion to the
US economy.12 It employs 7.6 million Americans
across the political spectrum – significantly more
jobs than either the tech industry or oil and gas
industries. The outdoor economy encompasses not
only the spending and jobs that result from tourism
and outdoor recreation, but also the quality of
life benefits that attract workers and businesses
to communities with outdoor amenities, and the
health benefits associated with outdoor activities.
In fact, research has shown that communities close
to federal lands perform better in several key
economic measures than those without nearby
federal lands.13
3
The recent call to revoke monuments
designated under the Antiquities Act
is an attack on the protection of and
investment in public lands, one that
prioritizes natural resource extraction
economies over recreation.
AN ATTACK ON ONE IS AN ATTACK ON ALL
The Antiquities Act plays an important role in the
protection of public lands, which if compromised
threatens the continued protection and future
investments in all public lands. Throughout the
decades there have been several attempts from
lawmakers to dismantle the Antiquities Act;
legislation calling it an encroachment on state
sovereignty, or to rescind the Antiquities Act as
a whole, as well as introduce bills that would
limit the amount of land presidents are allowed
to include in a national monument designation.14
These calls have been largely unsuccessful and
are on weak legal footing.15
The recent call to revoke monuments designated
under the Antiquities Act is an attack on the
protection of and investment in public lands,
one that prioritizes natural resource extraction
economies over recreation. This poses a direct
threat to western mountain communities that
rely on outdoor recreation to drive their local
economies. It would be an unprecedented attempt
to revoke a national monument designation—and
any attempt to do so would likely be invalidated by
the courts. Plus, eighty percent of respondents in
the Colorado College ‘Conservation in the West’
poll supported keeping monument designations
in place compared to just thirteen percent who
wanted them removed.16
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ANTIQUITIES ACT AND WESTERN MOUNTAIN AREAS
The Antiquities Act has proven to be a valuable tool
to protect important public land from development
and provide a foundation for sustainable
economic development. These protected federal
public lands are an asset to local communities.
Mountain communities in the Intermountain West
are gateways to seemingly endless opportunities
to hike, bike, ski, ride horses, snowmobile, hunt,
and fish. Residents and tourists alike enjoy these
outdoor recreation opportunities, of which most
occur on surrounding public lands and waters.
The tourism generated from people adventuring
into the neighboring public lands helps attract
and employ local residents in tourism enterprises,
provides a market for local goods and services,
and generates significant tax revenues to be
invested in local infrastructure and services.
Likewise, there is an influx of residents who are
choosing to retire to mountain communities,
telecommute or establish small businesses in
outdoor recreation-based mountain towns
because of the outdoor way of life provided by
surrounding public lands.
Investment in, protection, and expansion
of public lands is a vital part of ensuring
that mountain communities can continue
to sustain and grow their outdoor
economies.
The Antiquities Act is a fundamental part of
this and a policy tool that ensures the federal
government can act to protect and enhance the
American public land system. Revoking such a
tool would be a strike against conservation and
landscapes that support our communities. The
Antiquities Act is crucial to our ability to protect
the public lands driving local economies in the
Intermountain West.
The Antiquities Act is crucial to
our ability to protect the public
lands driving local economies in
the Intermountain West.
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Courtesy US Forest Service
National Park Service. “American Antiquities Act of 1906.” June 1906. Available at:
https://www.nps.gov/history/local-law/anti1906.htm
2
Sellers, Richard W. “A Very Large Array: Early Federal Historic Preservation--The Antiquities Act, Mesa Verde, and The National Park Service Act.” Spring 2007. Available at:
https://www.nps.gov/archeology/sites/antiquities/docs/2007rsellars-verylargearray-antiqactmevenps.pdf
3
National Parks Conservation Association. “Monuments Protected Under the Antiquities Act.” January 2017. Available at:
https://www.npca.org/resources/2658-monuments-protected-under-the-antiquities-act#sm.00010mysrbe97cs811ogy1us4f
1o3
4
The Wilderness Society. “Antiquities Act.” Available at: http://wilderness.org/article/antiquities-act
5
National Park Service. “National Park Service Press Release.” February 2016. Available at:
https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/news/release.htm?id=1784
6
Errick, Jennifer. “National Parks Witnessed Record-breaking Visitation in 2016.” February 2017. Available at:
https://www.npca.org/articles/1472-national-parks-witnessed-record-breaking-visitation-in-2016#sm.00010mysrbe97cs811
ogy1us4f1o3
7
Jones, Jeffrey M. and Steve Ander. “Americans Praise Gov’t Work on Natural Disasters, Parks.” July 2013. Available at:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/163487/americans-praise-gov-work-natural-disasters-parks.aspx
8
Boepple, Brendan. “Conservation in the West Poll.” January 2017. Available at:
https://www.coloradocollege.edu/other/stateoftherockies/conservationinthewest/2017/2017PollNationalRelease.pdf
9
Hascic, Ivan and JunJie Wu. “Land Use and Watershed Health in the United States.” May 2006. Available at:
http://le.uwpress.org/content/82/2/214.short
10
Postel, Sandra L. and Barton H. Thompson Jr. “Watershed protection: Capturing the benefits of nature’s water supply
services.” 2005. Available at:
http://dspace.gcswcd.com/bitstream/handle/123456789/106/Postel%26Thompson_WatershedProtection_2005.pdf?
sequence=1
11
Hynes, H. “The stream and its valley.” 1975. Verh. Internat. Verein. Limnol 19: 1-15.
12
Outdoor Industry Association. “Outdoor Recreation Economy Report.” April 2017. Available at:
https://outdoorindustry.org/resource/2017-outdoor-recreation-economy-report/
13
Headwaters Economics. “Federal Lands in the West: Liability or Asset?” February 2017. Available at:
https://headwaterseconomics.org/public-lands/federal-lands-performance/
14
Vincent, Carol Hardy. “National Monuments and the Antiquities Act.” September 2016. Available at:
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41330.pdf
15
Center for Western Priorities. “Go West, Young Podcast.” March 2017. Available at:
http://westernpriorities.org/?powerpress_pinw=9674-podcast
16
Boepple, Brendan. “Conservation in the West Poll.” January 2017. Available at:
https://www.coloradocollege.edu/other/stateoftherockies/conservationinthewest/2017/2017PollNationalRelease.pdf
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