Nevada Outdoor Business Coalition Condemns Rep. Amodei’s Attack on Public Lands

_{MEDIA CONTACT: Mandi Elliott, mandi@nvobc.org, 713-397-1008}

LAS VEGAS, NV — Representatives Mark Amodei (NV-02) and Celeste Maloy (UT-02)
have introduced the “Ending Presidential Overreach on Public Lands Act,” which aims
to dismantle the Antiquities Act of 1906. This legislation would end presidential authority
to designate national monuments, making it harder to protect outstanding natural areas
from development and destruction.

“We are extremely disappointed in Rep. Amodei’s attack on the Antiquities Act,” said
Nevada Outdoor Business Coalition Executive Director Mandi Elliott. “The local
outfitters and small businesses that make up our coalition depend on protected public
lands to thrive, and this bill is a slap in the face to an industry that generates $8.1 billion
dollars a year in the state of Nevada and provides an economic lifeline for so many
communities.”

Many of the great outdoor recreation destinations in the United States started as
national monuments, including the Grand Canyon and Death Valley. Here in Nevada,
Great Basin National Park started as Lehman Caves National Monument, and
presidential designations have established and protected the Basin and Range, Gold
Butte, and most recently Avi Kwa Ame national monuments.

“The Antiquities Act has allowed the President to listen to local communities,
businesses, and tribes, protecting our extraordinary natural areas when Congress was
unable or unwilling,” Elliott continued. “Rep. Amodei should listen to Nevadans who
overwhelmingly want politicians to stand up for public lands, not to help sell them to the
highest bidder for development. He should instead focus on fixing the broken process in
Washington DC that has left legislative land protection efforts languishing.”