Sunset over the proposed Avi Kwa Ame national monument. With your help it could receive the protection it deserves. Photo courtesy Alan O'Neill
By Christian Gerlach, Our Wild America Organizer
The Antiquities Act was signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt on June 8, 1906 and was the first United States law to provide general protection for any general kind of cultural or natural resource. It established the first national historic preservation policy for the United States giving the President the authority to set aside for protection "...historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States..." These protected areas were then designated as "national monuments" and the federal agencies assigned to oversee them were required to afford proper care and management of the resources. Prior to the Antiquities Act, specific areas had been set aside as national parks or reserves. However, these parks or reserves required an act of Congress as well as Presidential approval. The Antiquities Act made the establishment of national monuments an administrative action that was quicker and easier to execute.
On January 24, 1922, President Warren Harding proclaimed Lehman Caves National Monument. There was a ceremony at Lehman Caves to celebrate the proclamation of the new monument on August 6, 1922. Great Basin National Park is celebrating this historic event throughout 2022. The National Park Service invites the public to join us at special activities that will be scheduled throughout the year as well as on August 6, 2022, when Great Basin National Park will mark the hundred 100 year anniversary of the celebration of the National Monument Designation of the Lehan Caves as a National Monument. The National Park Service will mark the day starting early in the morning of the 6th of August with a historic flag raising. Rangers will give cave tours by lantern light and special guided walks of the historic landscape. There will also be a ceremony with guest speakers and birthday cake in the afternoon.
I was born and Raised in Nevada, my father Siegfried, god rest his soul, came to Las Vegas in 1966 from Berlin Germany. My mother came to Las Vegas in the late 80s, from the place where the Colorado River once flowed into Mexico, San Luis Rio Colorado Sonora. My earliest memory is from a tour my parents took our family on in the Lehman Caves of Great Basin National Park. I remember mom leading me and my cousin, who shrieked through part of the tour. When the guides turned the lights out in the large underground chamber. I remember coming out of the cave meeting Southwestern sunlight so bright I had to rub my eyes, to see the sight of my dad holding my sister in an awe-inspiring landscape. It was almost like being born, and being my earliest memory, it pretty much was. That experience is one of the main reasons Great Basin National Park and other public lands remain my favorite places to spend time with my family and friends.
The value of public lands is absolutely immeasurable, priceless. These places need to be preserved and protected so future generations can have and share these same experiences in places like Great Basin National Park. However there are these places near and dear to us that are yet to be protected like Avi Kwa Ame. One of my best memories exploring public lands was on Earth Day in 2018 on a trip with my dad, the year before he passed away. My father and I had heard about a potential wind project being considered near Searchlight, Nevada. We wanted to see the area before any sort of development happened. My family and I packed up the car and drove out late Sunday afternoon after a family meal, a tradition of ours. We headed off to drive the loop around the Wee Thump Joshua Tree Wilderness Area near Searchlight. Along the drive, we reminisced about all the times my mom and dad took us on road trips to view the ancient Joshua Tree Forest. The permanence of those Joshua Trees will forever be as beautiful to me as the memories of my family’s times soaking in breathtaking places across Nevada.
Siegfried Gerlach at the Wee Thump Josua Tree Wilderness. Photo by Christian Gerlach
Just as I hope to hold onto the memories of trips with my father to the Joshua tree forest in Wee Thump, I hope to see the Avi Kwa Ame area preserved as a national monument. We must identify the places that deserve protection, and urge our leaders to preserve our natural world so that future generations may continue to explore, enjoy, and protect places like Avi Kwa Ame one day too.
If you haven't yet, please sign and share our petition to protect Avi Kwa Ame, or consider writing a letter to the editor so that future generations might themselves explore, enjoy, and protect the stunning Joshua tree forests of Nevada.