FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 12, 2017
Contact: Frazier Haney, conservation director, Mojave Desert Land Trust
760-464-5430
Frazier@MDLT.org

BREAKING: Rep. Cook Instructs DOI To Cut Mojave Trails National Monument

Joshua Tree, CA - Representative Cook has not communicated with his constituents about the Trump Administration’s Executive Order to review select national monuments. Despite his lack of a public statement, Rep. Cook expressed his position in a letter to Department of the Interior Secretary Zinke, encouraging that the Mojave Trails National Monument be reduced in size. (Copy of the letter can be found here.)

“It is outrageous that Rep. Cook would go behind the backs of his constituents to argue that one of our Mojave Monuments be diminished. The Mojave Desert Land Trust has invested in this landscape for over a decade, and worked alongside many diverse local groups, to create this monument. Rep. Cook couldn’t even wait until the public had commented before trying to strip protections on land important to the local community.” - Danielle Segura, executive director, Mojave Desert Land Trust

The Department of the Interior opened a public comment process, to hear from local communities about the national monuments under review. Over 2.5 million public comments were submitted nationally. The Mojave Desert Land Trust collected over 1,250 comments focused specifically on the importance of the monuments in the Mojave. Of the comments collected nationally, analysis has found 98% of submitted comments to be in support of our national monuments.

The public comment period closed on July 10th. Rep. Cook sent his letter in support of reducing Mojave Trails on June 30th.

“Rep. Cook isn’t even pretending to listen to his constituents about the monuments. We are disappointed that he chose to speak out against this designation we fought over ten years for, we ask that Rep. Cook get out of his office and pay more attention- this designation will help to keep our desert whole and our economy flourishing." - Pat Flanagan, Naturalist, 29 Palms InnIn addition to his recommendation to greatly diminish Mojave Trails National Monument, Rep. Cook has encouraged the Department of the Interior to fully revoke monument status from several other monuments throughout the nation, and to make specific reductions to several more monuments spread throughout several states.

Background on the creation of Mojave Trails National Monument

The Mojave Trails National Monuments was the result of decades of local effort to protect the area. These efforts cumulated in legislation introduced by Senator Feinstein in 2009, 2011 and 2015, the California Desert Conservation and Recreation Act (CDCRA).

The CDCRA received unprecedented local support. Despite this public support, Congress failed to move the legislation forward, and Rep. Cook did not introduce a companion bill until after many community groups urged Senator Feinstein to petition President Obama to designate Mojave Trails, Sand to Snow, and Castle Mountains national monuments.The following October Representative Cook introduced his companion California Minerals, Off-Road Recreation, and Conservation Act. Rep. Cook’s legislation proposed a special management area be designated, rather than Mojave Trails being designated as a national monument.

On October 13, 2015, Senator Feinstein, Congressman Cook’s chief of staff, the Department of the Interior, and Department of Agriculture participated with other regional and local elected officials in a public meeting to gauge support for and hear concerns regarding the three proposed California Desert National Monuments – Mojave Trails, Sand to Snow, and Castle Mountains. Written and verbal comments were collected at the meeting, where attendance was estimated to be over 800 members of the general public.

In November of 2015, Vet Voice Foundation commissioned the Republican polling firm Public Opinion

Strategies to gauge the public’s support for creating the Mojave Trails National Monument versus public support for Rep. Cook’s legislation alternative legislation. Asked their opinion on Rep. Cook’s legislation, 66 percent of Californians -- and 65 percent of desert residents -- said they opposed it. Support for Mojave Trails to be designed as a national monument was reflected in 70 percent of desert residents surveyed. 73 percent of households that include veterans or active-duty servicepeople supported the monuments. In February of 2016, these three new national monuments were established. And in April of 2017 President Trump signed an Executive Order to review whether the monuments deserve continued protection.

The Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with the mission to protect and care for lands with natural, scenic, and cultural value within the Mojave Desert. For more information, visit www.mdlt.org