President Obama, who has been criticized for favoring oil and gas development over land conservation in his first term, on Monday will designate five new national monuments, according to officials briefed on the decision.
They are the First State National Monument in Delaware and Pennsylvania; the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument in New Mexico; the San Juan Islands National Monument in Washington State; Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument in Ohio and a monument commemorating Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railway in Maryland.
The new protected and historical monuments range in size from the 240,000 acres to be set aside in the San Juan Islands to small historical sites honoring Harriet Tubman on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and Col. Charles Young in Xenia, Ohio.
The White House and Interior Department had no official comment early Friday in advance of the president’s planned announcement.
But Rick Smith, of the Coalition of National Park Retirees, said the president acted because Congress has failed to enact legislation creating more parks and protected sites.
“Americans support and want more parks and monuments because they boost local economies, preserve our heritage and tell our diverse American story,†Mr. Smith said in an e-mail message. “In particular, all Americans can be proud that with the establishment of First State National Monument in Delaware, all 50 states are now home to an area included in our National Park System.â€
Last month, Bruce Babbitt, the interior secretary in the Clinton administration, said in a speech that Mr. Obama was falling behind many of his predecessors in setting aside lands for wilderness while making vast tracts available for drilling.
He noted that President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton protected roughly one acre of public land for every acre made available for hydrocarbon development. Under President George W. Bush, Mr. Babbitt said, industry claimed 7.5 acres for every acre set aside for public use - although that figure does not include the 200 million acres of marine reserve near Hawaii that Mr. Bush decided to protect at the end of his presidency, which would have given him a better ratio than any of hi predecessors.
“So far under President Obama, industry has been winning the race as it obtains more and more land for oil and gas,†Mr. Babbitt said. “Over the past four years, the industry has leased more than six million acres, compared with only 2.6 million acres permanently protected.â€
Although the monuments to be designated are not large enough to significantly change that balance, it is a suggestion that Mr. Obama may intend to use his authority in his second term to set aside more public lands for conservation, recreation and other noncommercial uses.
