Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) yesterday sent a letter to President Barack Obama asking him to refrain from designating any additional national monuments in Arizona without first engaging with affected stakeholders, including local governments and state agencies. Flake and McCain expressed particular concern over the potential impact a monument designation could have collaborative efforts to prevent catastrophic wildfires – a long-standing priority for both senators.

Enclosed with the letter are 16 statements from 42 elected officials, towns, and other stakeholders expressing concerns about a new designation including statements from Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, Arizona Game and Fish Department, Arizona State Lands Department, State Senator Gail Griffin, State Senator Steve Pierce, Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson, Town of Tusayan, and the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“Managing the Grand Canyon National Park to protect this national treasure can be done in a way that still respects the wide range of federal land users in Arizona. Acting unilaterally to designate a new national monument without meaningful engagement would omit consideration of issues that are important to Arizona,” wrote the senators.

The signed letter and supporting statements can be viewed here.
Text of the letter can be viewed bellow.

Background: On September 22, at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing, Flake advocated for stakeholder input on new national monument designations in Arizona. More information can be found here.

On Nov. 6, 2015, Flake and McCain sent a letter urging the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to increase the pace of forest thinning efforts in order to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and improve forest health. Flake and McCain’s signed letter can be viewed here.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey simultaneously sent an identical letter to the USFS. Ducey’s signed letter can be viewed here.  

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October 3, 2016

The Honorable Barack Obama
President
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington DC, 20500-0004

Dear Mr. President,

We write to ask that you refrain from designating any additional national monuments in Arizona without first engaging in full and meaningful consultation with affected stakeholders, including local governments and state agencies.  Your administration has repeatedly assured Congress that it will engage with affected stakeholders prior to any such designations, including written commitments from Secretary Jewell, and others (see enclosure). However, despite these assurances, we remain concerned that the proposed designation of nearly two million acres as a national monument in northern Arizona may move forward without any meaningful engagement, to the detriment of affected stakeholders in Arizona.

Only 18 percent of Arizona is privately owned, which means that federal public lands play a disproportionately large role in Arizona’s economy.  Multiple-use lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service provide opportunities for recreation, tourism, grazing, and natural resource development.  Designation of a new monument would severely limit these activities.  We have heard from a variety of local stakeholders all of whom have serious concerns about the designation of a new monument in Arizona:

• The lands within the proposed national monument are used for motorized and non-motorized recreation and hunting, and the proposed monument has created concerns by several sportsmen’s and recreation groups (see attached letters);

• Wildlife resources in Arizona, and water supplies to sustain that wildlife, are managed by the Arizona Game and Fish Department, which has raised concerns about its ability to manage wildlife within a new monument (see attached letter);

• The boundaries of the proposed national monument encompass roughly 64,000 acres of state trust land.  The Arizona State Land Department serves as the trustee and is concerned that the proposed designation would impact its constitutional obligations to manage the land for a number of beneficiaries, including public schools (see attached letter); and

• The Grand Canyon National Park draws more than five million visitors each year, and businesses providing services to these visitors have expressed concerns that the proposal would negatively affect the operation of the Grand Canyon Airport and the tourism industry in the Town of Tusayan (see attached letters).

Potentially even more significant is the effect a new national monument could have on efforts to prevent catastrophic wildfires.  A collaboration between federal agencies, local governments, the forest products industry, sportsmen’s groups, academic researchers, and environmental groups has resulted in the largest forest restoration project in the country, known as the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI).  The positive steps that have resulted from this delicately balanced collaboration, including the largest Environmental Impact Statement of its type, are jeopardized by the inclusion of 4FRI project lands in the proposed national monument.  Transferring management of the monument lands to the Department of the Interior and developing a new management plan will upend the collaborative and deal a setback that Arizona forests cannot afford.

As Arizonans, we respect the natural beauty of the Grand Canyon and the importance that it holds for the people of Arizona.  Managing the Grand Canyon National Park to protect this national treasure can be done in a way that still respects the wide range of federal land users in Arizona. Acting unilaterally to designate a new national monument without meaningful engagement would omit consideration of issues that are important to Arizona.  We respectfully request that your administration engage in a robust consultation with the affected stakeholders before making any new monument designations.  As always we ask that this matter be handled in strict accordance with all applicable agency rules, regulations, and ethical guidelines.

Sincerely,

JEFF FLAKE                                                                        
United States Senator

JOHN McCAIN
United States Senator                                                             

Enclosures:

1. Administration statements on consultation before national monument designation
2. Governor Ducey statement
3. Arizona Game and Fish Department statement
4. Arizona State Lands Department statement
5. State Senator Griffin letter
6. State Senator Pierce letter
7. Mohave County Supervisor Johnson letter
8. Eastern Arizona Counties Organization letter
9. Arizona-Utah Local Economic Coalition letter
10. Town of Tusayan letter
11. Arizona Association of Conservation Districts letter
12. Arizona sportsmen’s group letter
13. Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership letter
14. Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry statement
15. Air tour operators’ letter
16. Arizona Cattle Grower’s Association

 

cc: The Honorable Sally Jewell, Department of the Interior
The Honorable Thomas Vilsack, Department of Agriculture
Christy Goldfuss, Council on Environmental Quality

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