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<br />uniform, standing in a patch of salt bush. The only guy on the whole landscape for a hundred
<br />miles. And, it had its moments. We sat at a little table, he signed, and I looked over and all ofthe
<br />reporters were in line in front of a baby blue port-a-john (LAUGHTER) which was right next to
<br />Marine One. I thought, you know, there's sort of transcendent and mundane detail on this
<br />landscape.
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<br />But, in any event, apart from the details, he added a million acres to the protected area of Grand
<br />Canyon National Park. Interestingly, the response in the Arizona press was, 78% of the people in
<br />Arizona said "That's a great idea." And the split was the same for democrats, republicans, urban
<br />and rural.
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<br />And, that kind of brings me to Colorado, because I sense the same kind of disconnect on the
<br />Colorado landscape. I suspect if you took a poIl statewide in Colorado which asked a similar
<br />Colorado question, and I'll come to the specifics, you'll probably get a similar answer. But it's not
<br />reflected in the political process - as it was not reflected in Arizona.
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<br />So, that's the reason I'm on my way to Grand Junction, to see if we can join a dialogue in which,
<br />I'm saying on the front end: "It would be great to get these protection issues resolved in the
<br />Congressional, legislative process." But if that's not possible, I'm prepared to go back to the
<br />President, and not only ask, not only advise, but implore him to use his powers under the
<br />Antiquities Act and to say to him: "Mr. President, if they don't, and you do, you will be
<br />vindicated by history for generations to come." Just as President Harrison, President Cleveland,
<br />Woodrow Wilson, Taft, notably Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin D Rooseyelt, Jimmy Carter, virtually
<br />every President in the past century has done. Often in the midst of intense controversy. But in
<br />every single case, validated by history and the generations of Americans who have this passion
<br />for the western landscape.
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<br />Now the specific issues in Colorado - and I'm going through each of them in a little bit of detail,
<br />so I can hopefully sort of dry out some of the issues in this kind of historic dialogue that goes on
<br />in the West.
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<br />The first one is Southwestern Colorado. The country down below Durango and out toward
<br />Cortez and Dove Creek is the richest, most extraordinary archeological landscape in North
<br />America. I won't detail the kinds of discoveries that are coming off of that landscape, but it is
<br />truly incredible. Now, in the 19th century, people were down there - and of course they saw Mesa
<br />Verde immediately, and it is a ... I think it may in many ways be the most evocative of all of our
<br />national parks. Now, I'll immediately deny having said that when I'm in Arizona (LAUGHTER).
<br />But, I probably would stick by it, because there is something about being on that landscape. A
<br />sense... a palpable sense of the presence of our ancestors and the magical way that they lived on
<br />that land in absolute resonance with the landscape and the life on the land that is ... it is just
<br />really incredible. I can't describe it.
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<br />The people who were down there then turned back and said "These sites need protecting." And
<br />they protected Mesa Verde in the form of a national park. But then they went West onto this
<br />landscape of riches and they would see a ruin and they would make a National Park or a
<br />monument out of the forty acres surrounding the ruin. And if you go down to Hoevenweep
<br />National Monument it's like...littJe postage stamps on the landscape. Somebody saw a ruin and
<br />fenced off20 acres, ten, five, forty around it. And you begin looking across this landscape and
<br />say "Hey, wait a minute. This isn't about a ruin here or there. Don't you see, it's about a whole,
<br />interwoven landscape. It's about communities that were living in and on this land and relating to
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