SEMA opposes national monuments designation

WASHINGTON (Feb. 19, 2016) — The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) is opposing the designation by President Barack Obama of three new national monuments located in California's Mojave Desert.

The president recently set aside the Mojave Trails, Sand to Snow and Castle Mountains National Monuments — a total of 1.8 million acres — located between Palm Springs, Calif., and the Nevada state border.

Diamond Bar, Calif.-based SEMA said it opposes the action “since national monuments automatically prohibit new roads or trails for motorized vehicles and require a new land management plan be drafted that could lead to more road closures.”

The trade group supports a “collaborative approach to land-use decisions, including input from local citizens, elected leaders and other stakeholders on national monument designations.”

Accordingly, the association said it has worked to advance a bill in the U.S. Congress that would curtail a president's power to unilaterally designate national monuments, instead requiring their approval by Congress and the impacted state legislature(s).

More information on the national monuments and other land-use issues is posted on the SEMA Action Network website.