Ensign joins Heller to try to limit monument bids

U.S. Sen. John Ensign introduced legislation Thursday to quash the president's authority to establish national monuments in Nevada without approval by Congress.

The bill by Ensign, R-Nev., is a companion to one that Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., introduced Wednesday in the House.

Both would limit the president's authority under the Antiquities Act to designate national monuments in Nevada.

They follow an exemption Wyoming received in 1950 when Grand Teton National Park was created, and mirror a state-specific exemption sought by Utah Republicans in Congress.

The measures were triggered by a draft Interior Department memo that surfaced last week. It listed 14 candidate sites for national monuments in Western states, including two in Nevada.

Such designations by President Barack Obama could jeopardize jobs in Nevada and constrain mining, ranching and the search for more energy resources, Ensign said in a statement.

"At a time when the administration is touting its goal of job creation, these monument designations will actually take jobs away from our state," he said.

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., released a statement saying the Antiquities Act "has been an important tool for setting aside certain lands for conservation and protection."

Reid, the Senate majority leader, said he has explained the history of public land protection issues in Nevada "to my friend, Ken Salazar, the Secretary of the Interior, and he appreciates the consensus building that Nevadans have done in recent years."

"When this kind of process is in place and working well, there is no need for the president to use the Antiquities Act. Anyone who is concerned ... can rest at ease. Nevada has a proven public process for working on its own land issues and I will make sure that this process is respected," Reid said.