IN
THE
WIND
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OBAMA DESIGNATES THREE NATIONAL
MONUMENTS IN CALIFORNIA
P
resident Obama recently
designated three new
national monuments in the
California desert, permanently
"protecting" a total of 1.8
million acres. The three new
monument areas include the
Mojave Trails National Monu-
ment (the largest at 1.6 million
acres), the Sand to Snow
National Monument, and the
Castle Mountains National
Monument. The areas are
roughly located between
Palm Springs and the Nevada
border, and link together exist-
ing protected areas including
Joshua Tree National Park and
the Mojave National Preserve.
None of these monuments
include any major destination
OHV areas.
The designations were en-
couraged by Senator Dianne
Feinstein (D-CA), who asked
the president to act unilaterally
by way of the Antiquities Act
of 1906 to create the national
monuments. Obama's move
has received its share of criti-
cism, with many accusing him
of federal overreach and "pull-
ing the rug out from under the
legislative process." California
Rep. Paul Cook (R-CA) of Yucca
Valley, California, has been a
long-time supporter of the off-
road community, and issued
a pointed statement following
Obama's action.
"I'm not opposed to national
monuments. I'm opposed to
the president creating national
monuments through unilateral
executive action, ignoring the
legislative process. Unlike the
legislative process, the Antiq-
uities Act process provides
minimal opportunity for public
input, provides no funding
mechanisms and leaves us with
monuments that lack broad lo-
cal support."
Cook introduced his own
desert conservation act in
October 1, 2015 (HR 3668),
which he has stated he is still
committed to pursuing. Cook's
bill proposed the same Sand to
Snow National Monument that
Obama recently declared, and
also proposed a Mojave Trails
management area. Cook and
Feinstein had similar legislation
in the works, but where they
mainly differed was in Cook's
support of mining in the Mojave
Trails area.
"My bill (the California Miner-
als, Off-Road Recreation and
Conservation Act) balances rec-
reation, environmental concerns
and economic use in a sensible
way. It addresses the needs of
off-highway vehicle users and
conservationists while protect-
ing economically vital min-
eral sites and cultural heritage
sites… The guiding principle for
