Rep. Gosar Leads Effort to Discourage 1.7 Million Acre Land Grab in Arizona

Statement

Today, U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after sending a letter with 24 cosigners asking President Obama not to unilaterally designate 1.7 million acres in the Grand Canyon Watershed as a National Monument:

"Extremist environmental organizations, including the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity, have been pushing for the president to circumvent Congress and make a new 1.7 million acre designation using the Antiquities Act in the Grand Canyon Watershed. The real intentions of these shortsighted, self-interest groups are clear: they want this designation to prevent energy development, timber harvesting, grazing, mining and different types of recreation on this massive swath of land.

"The president has circumvented Congress at an unprecedented rate. This week alone, he will designate three new national monuments in Colorado, Hawaii and Illinois. My fear is that at the prodding of three liberal Democrats and a couple extremist environmental groups, Arizona may be next on the list. Locking up 1.7 million acres in the Grand Canyon Watershed would be devastating for local economies. Such action would also erode the extensive cooperation and success that federal and state agencies in Arizona have achieved to date. Worse yet, this land grab targets nearly 7,000 acres currently in private ownership and thousands of acres of State Trust Land that rural communities are counting on to provide important revenues for education and other critical services.

"I will not sit idle while extremist environmental groups that have no understanding of the real world try to ruin the state I love. When more land is locked up by the federal government, real people suffer and opportunities for future prosperity are reduced. For every acre of land declared public, there is an acre of private land lost and in Arizona, only about 18% of the land remaining in the state is privately held.

"A need to weigh the costs and benefits of acreage within Arizona's border is too great a responsibility to entrust to one pen stroke from the Executive Branch. This responsibility alone rests within Congress and the people. Clearly, a unilateral designation of nearly 2 million acres would be contradictory to the intent of Congress as well as Section 2 of the Antiquities Act, which limits designations to the "smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects to be protected.'

"My colleagues and I will continue to oppose this misguided effort and protect the interests of rural communities. Any future designation of any acre within this watershed should be pursued in a way that includes public input and seeks Congressional approval. Not more top-down, big government land grabs done by executive order at the behest of special interest groups."

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