A small handful of bills that would impact the National Park System have been sent to the full Senate for consideration. Among them is legislation that would shift Valles Caldera National Preserve out from under a trust and into the park system.

In 1906, the Antiquities Act authorized the president to create national monuments by presidential proclamation. Fifteen presidents serving since then have invoked the Act to protect nationally significant natural and cultural resources.

Bryce Canyon National Park is renowned for its colorful amphitheaters and starry skies. Visitors to that park could, however, soon have to contend with convoys of rumbling coal trucks and dusty skies if a coal mine goes in roughly 10 miles from Bryce Canyon.

Greetings from Bismark, the capital of North Dakota, one of our country’s few economically vibrant states. A low unemployment rate (4.1%), a state budget surplus ($800 million over two years), and an optimistic outlook; that’s what comes with a limited population sitting atop loads of coal, oil, and natural gas.