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Show CHAPTER 7 ARCHES AND CAPITOL REEF: OUTSIDERS AND 'VOCAL LOCALS' Although Arches and Capitol Reef national parks in Southern Utah are nearly one hundred miles apart, they shared the same spotlight as Congress crafted legislation to bring them into existence. They were the joint subject of hearings, press conferences, and news stories. The future of these contested lands was melded when in 1969, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued an executive order expanding the boundaries of what were then Arches and Capitol Reef national monuments and calling on Congress to elevate them to national parks. In August 1968, during the waning months of his administration, Johnson had asked his Cabinet to recommend appropriate presidential proclamations before the next president's inauguration. Johnson sought noncontroversial proposals that would allow a smooth presidential transition - to either Hubert Humphrey or Richard Nixon. Outgoing Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall saw an opening to expand government protection of landscapes. He began drawing plans for national monuments that Johnson could create or enlarge in the final days of his presidency. Under the Antiquities Act of 1906, presidents could unilaterally create national monuments. However, only Congress could create national parks. Udall sett led on a package of7.5 million acres of federal, |
