December 30, 2016 - Latino Leaders Applaud the Designation of Two New National Monuments: Bears Ears and Gold Butte

Latino Leaders Applaud the Designation of Two New National Monuments:
Bears Ears and Gold Butte

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, a coalition of 40 of the nation’s preeminent Latino advocacy organizations, commends President Obama on the designation of two new national monuments, Bears Ears in Utah and Gold Butte in Nevada, using the authority granted to him under the Antiquities Act.

Bears Ears is one of the most significant cultural landscapes in the United States with more than 100,000 cultural and archaeological sites associated with the Navajo, Ute, Hopi, and Pueblo people. The 1.9 million acres of public lands south and east of Canyonlands National Park include Ice Age hunting camps, cliff dwellings, prehistoric villages and petroglyph and pictograph panels that tell the diverse stories of 12,000 years of human habitation. Bears Ears has received more scrutiny than any other monument proposal before it, going through an open and community-building tribal-led process that emerged from the ground up. We have been inspired by and commend the tribal leadership of the Bears Ears Intertribal Commission formed in support of the designation.

In addition to the President’s leadership, we also thank Senator Harry Reid for championing public lands - including the designation of Gold Butte – in Nevada, a state with over 800,000 Latinos. Nevada’s protected public lands have grown from 67,000 acres of wilderness at the start of Senator Reid’s career to more than 4 million acres of new parks, wilderness areas and open spaces today. President Obama’s designation of Gold Butte will add an additional 300,000 acres for protection.

“Parks and monuments help Americans honor and learn about the diverse array of natural and cultural heritage stories that create the rich fabric of our nation. Expansions to our system of national parks and monuments help to ensure they reflect the full diversity of our shared history and culture,” said Laura Esquivel, a member of NHLA Energy and Environment committee and the Hispanic Federation’s Director of National Advocacy.

Both Nevada and Utah have significant Hispanic populations (28% and 13% respectively). Numerous national polls have underscored the strong support of Latinos for individual and government-sponsored conservation efforts including a 2014 poll which found that 87% of Latino voters think protecting natural resources is an important issue for the country to address, and a 2012 poll which found 91% of Latino voters agree that "protecting land and water protects my culture, family, and community." These sentiments run particularly strong among Hispanics in the West.

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The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda is composed of 40 of the leading national and regional Latino civil rights and public policy organizations and other elected officials, and prominent Latinos Americans. NHLA coalition members represent the diversity of the Latino community – Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and other Latino Americans. NHLA’s mission calls for unity among Latinos around the country to provide the Latino community with greater visibility and a clearer, stronger influence in our country’s affairs. NHLA brings together Latino leaders to establish policy priorities that address, and raise public awareness of, the major issues affecting the Latino community and the nation as a whole. For more information, please visit: www.nationalhispanicleadership.org.

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