If you could be president of the United States for one day, what would you do? I'd probably want to sneak in some batting practice at Yankee Stadium, quickly, because even for the most powerful person in the world, a single day isn't a lot of time to -- as the late Steve Jobs put it -- "make a dent in the universe."
The president, however, has a unique power. When Congress passed the Antiquities Act 106 years ago, it gave the commander in chief sole authority to designate public land as a national monument.
From Sierra Club Executive Director Mike Brune
Treat the earth well.
It was not given to you by your parents,
it was loaned to you by your children.
We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors,
we borrow it from our Children.
Ancient Indian Proverb
It was not given to you by your parents,
it was loaned to you by your children.
We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors,
we borrow it from our Children.
Ancient Indian Proverb
The nation and the president’s affection for the Grand Canyon region as national treasure is clear. President Obama has an opportunity to burnish his legacy around the canyon by designating areas around the North Kaibab Plateau in Arizona as a new Grand Canyon Watershed National Monument. Doing so would provide vital protection for important sources of groundwater, protect habitat for mule deer, preserve 22 sensitive species (many of which occur nowhere else in the world), promote and protect local tourism economies and jobs, and more...
Guest column by Athan Manuel, Director of the Sierra Club's Lands Protection Program.
