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IN FEBRUARY, President Barack Obama used his power under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to create three national monuments in California. Here in Arizona, proponents are hoping that three more monuments will be established, either by the president’s pen or congressional approval. Like national parks, national monuments can be formed only on federal land; however, they’re less restrictive than national parks, allowing existing recreational activities such as hunting and fishing to continue.
 

GREATER GRAND CANYON HERITAGE NATIONAL MONUMENT
Arizona Representative Raúl Grijalva has fought for years to protect land surrounding Grand Canyon National Park, a vital watershed area peppered with cliffs, grasslands and forests. In 2008, he introduced a bill to ban new uranium-mining claims on more than a million acres around the Canyon. Multiple versions of that bill failed in Congress. Then, in 2012, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar took matters into his own hands and enacted a 20-year moratorium on new mines. In 2015, wanting permanent protection, Grijalva introduced an even more expansive bill that would make the area a national monument.

At 1.7 million acres, the monument would be the second-largest in the country (after Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument) and would include sacred Native American archaeological sites, old-growth ponderosa pines and the Grand Canyon watershed. However, given the land’s economic potential, opposition is strong. One vocal opponent, Arizona Representative Paul Gosar, wrote in 2015 that the monument would “stifle development” and “kill jobs.” Gosar also co-authored an amendment to the Antiquities Act that would have hurt the proposal’s chances, but the Senate rejected his amendment.
 

GREAT BEND OF THE GILA NATIONAL MONUMENT
Although it’s not as vigorous as it was, the Gila River once flowed fiercely, drawing diverse cultures — everyone from the ancient Clovis and Hohokam people to Spanish and Mexican explorers — to its shores for 12,000 years. Remnants of these crisscrossing cultures are concentrated southwest of Phoenix, where the Gila River forms its “Great Bend.”

Due to the area’s significant history, many parties, including 13 Native American tribes, want it protected as an 84,000-acre national monument. Ancient canals and artifacts scatter the landscape, as do thousands of geoglyphs and petroglyphs, often carved into hardened lava. At Sears Point alone, Bureau of Land Management surveyors counted more than 10,000 rock- art images. Several historic trails, including a section of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail, snake through the proposed monument.

The effort is helmed by public-lands expert Rebecca Knuffke, who’s working with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Grijalva created the monument’s 2013 legislation, which failed in Congress but is being updated to reflect public input.
 

SEDONA VERDE VALLEY RED ROCK NATIONAL MONUMENT
The stunning red-rock formations, forests and creeks of the Sedona and Verde Valley area in Central Arizona are world-renowned and popular — so much so that more than 3 million visitors every year are wearing down trails and sensitive habitats faster than they can be maintained and preserved. Concerned citizens formed a committee in 2015 and are drafting management recommendations to make the region a 160,000-acre national monument that would permanently protect the land from overuse, vandalism and private development. The monument would also preserve the Oak Creek watershed and at least 800 archaeological sites, including the Palatki, Honanki and V-Bar-V heritage sites.

The committee — supported by a coalition of volunteers, stakeholders and non-profits — aims to get the monument designated via a presidential proclamation, rather than through Congress. Progress is slow, and opponents have rallied their own supporters. One of their concerns is that the monument would prevent new businesses and housing developments from breaking ground.