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What's the difference between a national park and a national monument?
National parks can be created only through an act of Congress.
National monuments can be designated by the president under the
Antiquities Act, which Theodore Roosevelt signed in 1906. Historically,
such designations are intended to protect scenic, historic,
archaeological, geologic and other scientific and educational values.
Many of the nation's premier national parks began as presidentially
designated national monuments, including Grand Canyon, Death Valley and
four out of Utah's five -- Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capital Reef and Arches.
All national parks and most national monuments are run by the National
Park Service, but monuments generally have lower priority when it comes
to funding.
What is wilderness?
Wilderness designation means that certain activities are prohibited:
logging, off-road-vehicle use, permanent developments like roads,
buildings and dams. National parks and monuments may contain wilderness
areas -- as can national forests and areas under the jurisdiction of the
Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management -- but monument
status does not necessarily protect an area from grazing, road building
or other development.
While Clinton's
Grand Staircase-Escalante
designation is a laudable
move, it does not change the Club's goal of 5.7 million acres of
wilderness in southern Utah, a goal that can be achieved only through
Congressional designation.
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