(2017-0879-F) National Monuments

The materials in 2017-0879-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related material. During his Administration President Clinton created 19 national monuments. These national monuments are managed by one of several federal agencies: the National Park Service, United States Forest Service, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, or the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). In the case of Clinton, the majority of the areas were under the control of the BLM. The WHORM (White House Office of Records Management)-Subject File-General contains material dealing with the designation of the following national monuments by President Clinton: Grand Canyon Parashant, Agua Fria, California Coastal, Vermillion Cliffs, President Lincoln and Soldiers’ Home, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Giant Sequoia. Moreover, documents can be found concerning the enlargement of national monuments located at Pinnacles and Craters of the Moon. Five of those listed are among the items asked for in FOIA request 2017-0879-F. Types of records in this collection include memoranda, press releases, lists, maps, drafts, proclamations, correspondence, notes, bibliographies, tracking sheets, faxes, newspaper articles, and handwritten notes. Memos are generally addressed to the President and deal with specific issues related to proclamations and the establishment of national monuments. Franklin D. Raines, who was head of the OMB for two years (1996-1998) during the Clinton administration, acted as a conduit between affected agencies and the presidency. That is, he presented the proposed proclamation to the departments with the most at stake and received their objections, if any, to the proffered changes. Based on the information he accumulated, Raines would advise the President on the course of action that should be pursued. Kathleen A. McGinty was Chair of the Council for Environmental Quality (CEQ) for three years (1995- 1998). With respect to the creation of Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah as a national monument the trail of correspondence reveals a situation full of obtacles that had to be overcome. McGinty goes into some degree of specificity about the strident opposition of the state’s political leaders (Leavitt, Hatch, and Orton); then she brings up a possible meeting between Babbitt and Leavitt to discuss the issues. There are a sizable number of other records related to national monuments. Maps (most in black and white; a few in color) display the proposed national monument. Bibliographies list information about proposed sites like the Giant Sequoia National Monument and can be broken down with the subdivisions historic resources, prehistoric and ethnographic references, paleontological resources, giant sequoias, ecological resources, fire and fuel conditions, hydrologic, geologic, and soil resources, general information/background information, botanical resources, and wildlife resources. Multiple copies of “Presidents and the Antiquities Act” list the national monuments along with the acreage involved affected by each President from Theodore Roosevelt through George H.W. Bush. “Monuments of the Colorado Plateau” is a very detailed listing with information under the following headings: monument, specific object(s), categorical object(s), initial reservation, subsequent history/current status, and President. A similar document exists with the title “Monuments Established by Presidential Proclamation.” The majority of the records in the White House Staff and Office Files come from the Counsel’s Office. They take the form of emails, correspondence, schedules, memoranda, papers, notes, bibliographies, proclamations, drafts, press briefings, maps, and remarks. In the files of Bridget McGovern and Brad Winter the emails can be characterized as speculation about what sites might become national monuments. The files of Bridget McGovern, Jason Wilson, and Brad Winter deal primarily with the designation of national monuments in general. The controversy surrounding President Clinton’s action in the Beehive State is reflected in the material found in this segment of the collection. Correspondence—both favorable and unfavorable—turns up pertaining to Grand Staircase-Escalante being preserved. The Sierra Club resoundingly approved of what happened in Utah. In its September 20, 1996 letter to President Clinton, the organization “applauded the bold and visionary step you have taken in responding to [our] concerns for Utah’s scenically and biologically important wildlands.” Conversely, the Utah Public Education Coalition expressed outrage at what the Administration proposed to do. The final paragraph of their September 11, 1996 to the White House highlighted the principal reason the group opposed the move: “On behalf of the children and our schools, we ask that you not designate any further lands in Utah as a national monument without full consideration of the impacts on education in Utah and full compensation for any restrictions placed upon Utah’s school trust lands.” In the files of Ed McNicholas there are background materials for a variety of national monuments. These records relate mainly to the legal effects of the proposed proclamation and the administration of the monument; usually the agency in charge of managing the site is clearly set forth. The national monuments dealt with in the papers of McNicholas include the expansion for Pinnacles, Agua Fria, California Coastal, and Grand Canyon-Parashant. The records of Paul Oetken concern the designation of the Giant Sequoia National Monument. Drafts of the proclamation accomplishing this show up all over the place. Nineteen pages of Righteous Pilgrim: The Life and Times of Harold L. Ickes, 1874-1952 by T.H. Watkins have been photocopied. Ickes served as FDR’s Secretary of the Interior from 1933-1945 and was intimately involved in the initial steps to preserve the Giant Sequoia site in California for posterity. The excerpt from the book by Watkins focuses on the contributions Ickes made in this endeavor while serving in the cabinet of Roosevelt. In the files of Karl Racine specific national monuments are examined in some detail. They include Hanford Reach, Cascade-Siskiyou (also known as Soda Mountain), Canyons of the Ancients, and Ironwood Forest. Each location has a packet of material with a map (sometimes in color), relevant newspaper articles, an extensive memo from Babbitt to President Clinton addressing such issues as legal effects of the proclamation and administration of the monument, actual drafts of the proclamation, and a lengthy bibliography.