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The editorial boards of the Denver Post and the Chicago Sun Times are calling on President Biden and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to be more aggressive than their predecessors when it comes to conservation.
Following Haaland's visit to Colorado last week, the Denver Post editorial board explicitly calls on President Biden to consider using the Antiquities Act as a means to set aside "vast tracts of land as wilderness." As evidence of the need to act boldly early in this administration, the editorial board cites the massive crowds that already flock to Colorado's parks and public lands, "loving them to death." The board suggests President Biden and Secretary Haaland act to increase recreational access, saying, "Opening up more land for recreation is the only way to alleviate the pressure on existing resources like Rocky Mountain National Park, Maroon Bells, and Hanging Lake."
Similarly, the Chicago Sun Times editorial states, "Now would be a good time, at the height of the summer vacation season, for the Biden administration to restore the alarmingly shrunken borders of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in southern Utah," both of which were drastically diminished from their original size during the Trump administration.
The Denver Post's editorial acknowledges that the Biden administration has already set an ambitious national goal of conserving 30% of America's land and water by 2030 (the "30x30" goal), and hints there may be "low hanging fruit in Colorado." Specifically, the board suggests that President Biden consider using the Antiquities Act to protect the areas contained within the CORE Act and the Colorado Wilderness Act if proposed legislation for either is not enacted.
The Denver Post and Sun Times editorials are part of a trend calling on President Biden to designate new lands for conservation using the Antiquities Act. The New York Times editorial board last week urged President Biden to make a significant down payment on the 30x30 goal by restoring protections for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. The Times' editorial describes the opportunity presented to President Biden through the Antiquities Act as a teaching moment, saying, "The act has critics in Congress who believe that protecting public lands is exclusively their responsibility. Mr. Biden should use the occasion to educate the public about its importance and legitimacy."
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We live in a desert, and we need to start acting like it."
