The Clinton administration, which raised the ire of many Western Republicans last month by creating three new national monuments, is considering designating more monuments in Arizona, California, Colorado, and Oregon, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said Monday. Any new monuments would likely be administered by the Bureau of Land Management, which Babbitt says is becoming a conservation agency akin to the National Park Service and the National Wildlife Refuge system (well, we can hope). Babbitt also said the administration is talking with Colorado’s congressional delegation about a possible new national park in southern Colorado. In other western lands news, Utah Rep. Chris Cannon (R) today will introduce a bill that would create national conservation areas in the San Rafael Swell area in southern Utah; enviros oppose the bill because they say the land should be given more protection and designated as wilderness.
