02.12.16

Ranking Member Grijalva Hails Newly Announced National Monuments, Highlights Previous GOP Dismissals of Native American Heritage Value

Washington, D.C. – Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today applauded President Obama for designating three new national monuments in California to protect Native American artifacts and historical sites and to enhance the region’s climate resiliency. The sites – Mojave Trails National Monument, Sand to Snow National Monument and Castle Mountains National Monument – each contain important links to tribal culture and history and will protect vital natural resources.

In praising the administration’s move, Grijalva highlighted the ongoing Republican campaign to question the value of Native American history as a basis for designating national monuments. In July 2015, when he was asked for his view of a then-new national monument in Nevada that included cave paintings and other tribal artifacts, Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) responded that the monument was “bull crap” and claimed, “That’s not an antiquity.”

“These sites are among the greatest remaining unprotected Native American historical treasures in the country, and the president has done the entire nation proud by recognizing their importance today,” Grijalva said. “I hope Congress can come together to support these sites and give them the long-term protection they deserve rather than using them as an excuse for more partisan bickering and ideological warfare.”

While Republican lawmakers frequently describe national monuments as a “land grab,” Grijalva pointed out that each site is already federally owned land and that most existing activities, including recreation, will continue as before. He congratulated the administration on its successful efforts to increase and diversify public access to federally protected areas, including the establishment of sites such as San Gabriel Mountains National Monument outside Los Angeles in October 2014.

Grijalva has proposed a bill (H.R. 3882) to establish Greater Grand Canyon Heritage National Monument in Northern Arizona, which would protect the tribal, cultural and environmental resources surrounding Grand Canyon National Park.

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