Local opinion: Attacks on state's National Monuments undermine public opinion, local voices

Last month, legislation was introduced that would eliminate protections for two of Arizona’s most beloved public lands: Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni–Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument and Ironwood Forest National Monument.

This legislation stands in direct opposition to the overwhelming support Arizonans have expressed for keeping national monuments intact. A vast majority of Arizonans — 88% — support the Antiquities Act. This law has allowed presidents of both parties to designate existing national public lands as national monuments since 1906.

Ironwood Forest National Monument, designated 25 years ago, protects 129,000 acres of the Sonoran Desert, safeguarding one of the richest stands of ironwood trees, critical wildlife habitat, and more than 5,000 years of cultural history. Its significance was reaffirmed just last month when the Tucson City Council passed a resolution in support of continued protection for the monument.

Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni–Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument was established in 2023 after decades of advocacy from Tribal Nations and Arizona communities, including faith leaders, small business owners, and outdoor recreationists from across the state, with the support of Arizona’s governor, as well as mayors from Phoenix to Payson to Flagstaff. Four out of five Arizona voters support the monument. Make no mistake: local support for this monument is strong.

These monuments are more than protected landscapes; they are living testaments to Arizona’s cultural, ecological, and recreational heritage, and they are important to our future. Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni–Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument protects the Colorado River watershed, which provides drinking water for Arizona’s communities. It also protects outdoor recreation opportunities — specifically hunting and fishing — while allowing existing grazing and mining operations to continue. Not surprisingly, these monuments are also important drivers in our local economies, where tourism helps Arizona’s small businesses thrive, which in turn provide jobs and tax revenue to our state.

Eliminating Arizona’s National Monuments ignores the clear will of the public and sidesteps the grassroots process that created them. It erases decades of work by Tribes, local governments, business owners, conservationists, sportsmen, faith leaders, and community members who came together to ensure these lands remain accessible and intact for future generations. Abolishing them in order to satisfy special interests, or to remove a hurdle on a path to selling them, while ignoring the desires of Arizonans, takes the management of our public lands in the wrong direction.

In a time when our country is split down the middle, it can be tough to find issues that Arizonans agree on. But keeping our public lands in public hands is one of them. Attacks on Arizona’s national monuments are simply out of touch with Arizona’s values.