No need to review Hanford, other monuments

Westerners who lived through the designation of national monuments over the past two decades should be puzzled by President Trump’s executive order calling for a review. The order cites “a lack of public outreach,” but if the review leads to anything but maintaining the status of these monuments, it will be because the administration ignored the public.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has been charged with reviewing 27 monument designations that cover more than 100,000 acres, including Hanford Reach National Monument in Washington and Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in Idaho.

Zinke’s deadline for an interim report is 45 days. He has 120 days to deliver a final report. He said the review is needed “to give state and local communities a meaningful voice in the process.” That happened the first time around. The president’s comments suggest other motives. He erroneously called federal protection of these sites “a massive federal land grab” and “an abuse of power.”

The 195,000 acres on which Hanford Reach sits was already federal land. In 1988, Congress began studying the area for protection. In 1994, the National Park Service recommended Wild and Scenic River designation for Hanford Reach, which was the last free-flowing segment of the Columbia River. In 1997, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Norm Dicks introduced bills for Wild and Scenic status, but they didn’t pass.

In 1999, after conferring with state, local and tribal leaders, the U.S. Department of Energy recommended national monument status, which presidents can confer under the 1906 Antiquities Act. President Bill Clinton issued the order on June 8, 2000.

The public and a long list of stakeholders had plenty of time to consider and debate a set-aside for Hanford Reach.

Craters of the Moon, along the Snake River basin in central Idaho, was established in 1924 by President Calvin Coolidge to “preserve the unusual and weird volcanic formations.” President Clinton expanded it in 2000. The Idaho Senate adopted a resolution in March calling on Congress to designate it a national park. Nearby county officials support the move.

All of the monuments were created from existing federal land, but Trump says he wants to put governors in control. Will he give cash-strapped states money to manage the lands? Or will they be put up for sale?

There is little opposition to the monuments under review. Bears Ears National Monument in Utah has gotten the most attention because it’s the newest. The original opponents of Hanford Reach are not clamoring to get rid of it today. In an article at Crosscut.com, Adam Fyall, sustainable development manager for Benton County, said, “It’s not on our radar at all.” The article notes that officials from Franklin and Grant counties appear to be uninterested, too.

The Interior Department is hosting public comments until July 10, and so far support for the monuments has been overwhelming, according to an analysis by the Center for Western Priorities, a conservation organization.

If this review really is about process and public input, Zinke can wrap it up early.