A Montana-based environmental group is trying to pressure Oregon Congressman Greg Walden. They want him to oppose pending bills that would shrink some national monuments and make it harder for presidents to create monuments in the future.
The TV and radio ads depict public lands as being under assault by what they call “Elites in Washington.”
“Tell Congressman Walden to stop the attacks on public lands. Because your American birthright is not for sale …”
A similar message is plastered on a billboard in Bend, the largest city in Walden’s district, urging constituents to call Walden’s office.
Jayson O’Neill is with the Western Values Project in Whitefish, Montana, the group behind the campaign.
“We believe as an organization that Representative Walden should step up to the mic and tell clearly to his constituents where he stands,” he says.
Walden defends his record on public lands, citing bi-partisan measures he’s authored, such as the cooperative management area at Steens Mountain in southeast Oregon. Walden says he hasn’t taken stands on bills to reduce two monuments in Utah because they haven’t come up for a vote yet. But, he says …
“I do support reforming the Antiquities Act. I think there ought to be more public process to it.”
Walden says the law – signed by President Theodore Roosevelt – shouldn’t allow presidents to designate national monuments without extensive local involvement. Walden has also voiced support for the Trump Administration’s proposal to scale back the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in southern Oregon.
