Sign the letter to President Obama

The Honorable Barack Obama
The White House
Washington DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

I believe in your vision and ability to change our country for the better. You have a prime opportunity to do just that by designating the nation’s newest national monument here in the West.

As you know, America’s national parks and monuments provide proven economic benefits—attracting entrepreneurs, retirees, tourists, and new jobs to rural communities across the West. According to the Outdoor Industry Association, outdoor recreation contributes $730 billion to the U.S. economy every year and employs 1 in every 20 Americans. Protecting new parks and monuments would support continued economic growth and new jobs in rural western communities. Voters agree: In a recent bipartisan poll, nearly 8 in 10 Westerners said we can protect our land and water and have a strong economy and good jobs.

Already, communities across the West are collaborating to preserve local treasures, including:

• Chimney Rock Archaeological Area in Colorado, where volunteers now lead tours of breathtaking ancient ruins, thought to be part of the Chacoan culture that flourished in the Southwest between A.D. 850 and 1250.  
• Browns Canyon near Buena Vista, Colorado, which provides outstanding fish and wildlife habitat as well as four-season recreational opportunities from unforgettable whitewater rafting and superb fishing on the Arkansas River to some of the best hunting in the Southwest.  
• El Rio Grande del Norte, which includes New Mexican landscapes that have inspired artists for generations, serve as a vital migratory flyway, and provide public lands for hunting and other traditional uses by Pueblos, land grant heirs, and other area residents. 
• The Organ Mountains and Desert Peaks region in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, which provides outstanding recreational opportunities, scenery, and wildlife habitat, and is home to thousands of historical and cultural sites.  The  nearby residents of Las Cruces, New Mexico, and visitors from around the country, are drawn to these special wild lands.
• Las Vegas’s newest attraction, Tule Springs, where the largest group of Ice Age fossils in the Southwest and a migration corridor for desert bighorn sheep need protection.  An urban park here could offer close-to-home recreational opportunities for hundreds of thousands of Nevada families and tourists.
  
  

As you said in announcing the America’s Great Outdoors initiative: “The great Rachel Carson once wrote that, ‘The real wealth of the nation lies in the resources of the Earth — soil, water, forests, minerals, wildlife… Their administration is not properly, and cannot be, a matter of politics.’ Something more than politics. That was the call echoed by Jefferson and Lincoln and Roosevelt. It’s the call that has driven generations of Americans to do their part to protect a small slice of the planet. And it’s the call that we answer today.”

Please do not wait for Congress to act, Mr. President. We urge you to answer our call and act decisively to protect our clean water, wildlife habitat, cultural treasures, and irreplaceable western public lands for this and future generations to enjoy. Our economic future and the well-being of our communities depend on your decisive action now.