It s almost an injustice for people to sell people on this strategy by saying we ll be able to get rid of a national monument in this country. A few national monuments have been overturned in the nation s history, McInnis noted, but usually just to replace them with something more restrictive. For instance, Holy Cross in Colorado was once a monument and is now a wilderness area. Some bills have been introduced to rein in the president s powers under the Antiquities Act, which allows him to declare national monuments unilaterally, but McInnis said such legislation isn t going anywhere. Opponents of the NCA bill likewise said they might be able to delay a monument designation until after Clinton left office, but McInnis said he didn t see how.
History shows the chances are minimal at best and the costs are unbelievable.
He said, while he can t speak for Campbell, he believes the senator will continue to lobby for the monument to be as protective of historic multiple uses as possible. We re going to continue to communicate with Babbitt, and if he s going to do this we intend to be very intense about the protections of multiple use and the concerns of the locals. McInnis said he understands why many area residents opposed his bill, but said that they were somewhat misled about the chances of successfully fending off a national monument designation. I just don t want to be the one that leads them to the battlefield when I know there s going to be a slaughter. Copyright 2000 the Cortez Journal.