Seventy-five years ago today, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt designated the Capitol Reef National Monument, proclaiming “it would be in the public interest to reserve such lands.”

No one today would dispute that FDR’s action was visionary — because today Capitol Reef National Park is considered one of the crown jewels of Utah.

Click here to help protect Greater Canyonlands today! Canyonlands Overlook, copyright Grant Collier.

The same holds true for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which was created in 1996 by President Bill Clinton.

A poll last fall found that 69% of Utahns rated the creation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument as “very good” or “somewhat good” for the state.

The message is clear: history (and public opinion) rewards those presidents who have shown a bold vision in protecting the Colorado Plateau — no matter the hue and cry that local Utah politicians might raise at the time about such protections.

That’s the message that we have to get to President Obama.  At a time when Utah Governor Gary Herbert is launching an unprecedented assault on public lands in Utah, we need a president who will stand up to protect one of the largest and most spectacular wild landscapes in the world — the Greater Canyonlands region of Utah.

President Obama has the authority, granted to him by Congress in 1906 under the Antiquities Act, to designate a Greater Canyonlands National Monument — and to create a legacy of protecting public lands in Utah.  

But we need your help to get that message to President Obama today.

Already, thousands of you have joined our Facebook photo campaign (see examples above), signed a petition, filled out a postcard, sent an email, tweeted, called the White House, and taken other actions to urge President Obama to protect Greater Canyonlands.  And his administration is noticing.

But there is still more work to be done.  Please visit greatercanyonlands.org today to take further action and help us spread the word!

Thank you to everyone who has been involved in this campaign.  Together, we can convince President Obama that Greater Canyonlands is worth protecting!