Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell on Tuesday defended President Obama’s use of the Antiquities Act to declare large swaths of land national monuments, and argued that a consensus isn’t required for a president to designate land for these monuments.
Speaking at the National Geographic Society Tuesday, Jewell said the Antiquities Act is one of the most important ways presidents can protect natural areas. The administration’s use of the act has been criticized by Republicans who see it as a tool to close off lands to energy production, but Jewell dismissed their objections.
“President Obama has been judicious and thoughtful in his use of the Antiquities Act,” Jewell said. “I do not think the act should only be used in places where there is complete agreement.”
The Antiquities Act, passed in 1906, gives presidents the power to declare land areas national monuments. It has been used by every president since its passage and Obama has declared 19 new national monuments, and enlarged two others. That’s put 3.66 million acres of land under federal protection since Obama took office in 2009.
The National Park Service is celebrating its centennial this year and Jewell took to the National Geographic Society stage Tuesday to celebrate National Park Week, and lay out what she wants to see in the future from the service.
Chief among her concerns are that young people are not going to parks in the numbers that Jewell would like. She said many visitors to national parks look like her: older and white.
“We haven’t found a way to connect with the young people of today who are more diverse, more tech savvy and more disconnected from nature than ever before,” she said.
The first thing that needs to be done in the national parks’ second century is getting more people into them and inspire a love of the outdoors, Jewell said. She said the Find Your Park campaign and Obama’s Every Kid in a Park initiative, which gives fourth graders and their families free access to national parks, hope to accomplish that aim.
Jewell also suggested greater coordination between government, industry and local leaders in order to figure out what lands need to be protected for the betterment of nature.
She also announced the Department of Commerce will study what impact outdoor recreation has on the nation’s economy in an attempt to show what impact conserving public lands has on the country’s bottom line. She wants to find data that shows it’s worth the money to protect certain areas.
“We want to know the impact of everything from buying gear, to hiring a guide, to renting hotel rooms in gateway communities. This project is the start of a multi-year effort to quantify these contributions in a comprehensive and impartial way,” Jewell said.
“So today, we are putting America’s outdoor economy on equal footing with every other major economic sector. This fast-growing economic powerhouse deserves to be counted.”
