Saturday 21 April 2012

Obama declares Fort Ord a 'world-class destination' in national monument announcement


More than 14,000 acres of expansive coastal lands that served as training grounds for generations of soldiers were declared a national monument Friday.


Fort Ord, a former military base just north of Monterey, will be the country's newest national monument and the second that President Obama has created under the 1906 Antiquities Act.


The federal nod will help the public lands, which hold more than 80 crisscrossed miles of hiking and cycling trails, gain prominence as a travel destination and protect the lands as an environmental refuge.


"We're truly overjoyed," said Michael Houlemard, executive officer of the Fort Ord Reuse Authority. "Yesterday we were Fort Ord Public Lands. Today we're Fort Ord National Monument."


Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, said he used his Summit of the Americas trip last week to Cartagena, Colombia, aboard Air Force One to make a personal pitch to the president. He said Fort Ord's national monument status will boost the Central Coast's tourism and recreation economies.
"Our community now has a new national monument to enjoy ... and a new tourist attraction," Farr said.
Farr said he got a chance to mention Fort Ord when the president was chatting with a few people on the plane. "Whenever you get a chance for some face time, you use it to lobby," Farr said.
Farr said he reminded the president about Earth Day coming, and Obama said he wanted more information about the jobs and economic aspects of a Fort Ord monument.
Salazar said, "The fact is the conservation agenda is very much rooted in job creation. Many jobs are created in gateway communities (to parks and monuments)."
There were other reasons for the smooth and relatively quick process. No local opposition arose, and the federal government already owned all of the land in the new monument.
"We weren't crowding anybody out," Farr said. "This was an easy deal. The land was already owned, managed and set aside (for open space and recreation)."
Salazar, who visited Fort Ord in January, recalled there were about 200 people at a public hearing and "not a single person ... spoke out in opposition."
Potter said, "In a community that feeds on controversy, to have something controversy-free is pretty rare."
Praise for the move came from a variety of groups and public officials Friday, including the Monterey County Business Council, Grower-Shipper Association of Central California and the Vet Voice Foundation.
Paul Bruno, spokesman for the Monterey County Republican Party, couldn't muster a lot to say about the new federal monument.
"We haven't studied the issue and the potential benefits or ramifications," he said. "I'm hoping that the designation will bring jobs because, ultimately, that is what our community needs."
The BLM, which manages 16 other national monuments, won't be expanding its staff at Fort Ord, Abbey said. "We have a small staff in place. I don't see us adding too many more," he said.
But Abbey said the BLM enjoys "outstanding partnerships" with local schools, public agencies and community groups for environmental education and other programs at Fort Ord.
"You will see a continuation of those programs ... and additions from the designation," he said.
The designation coincides with this weekend's Earth Day and the Sea Otter Classic, which the White House called "one of the largest bicycling events in the world."
Potter said the elevation of Fort Ord open-space and recreation lands to a national monument shouldn't affect parts of the former base slated for development, such as the proposed Monterey Downs project in Seaside and county territory.
"One of the things we made sure ... is that it didn't have any effect on any abutting lands," he said.
Potter said he will try to ensure that any projects built next to the new monument provide access and better "staging areas" to the recreation areas.
Seaside Mayor Felix Bachofner said the national monument status should give his city and Marina "a shot" toward being eco-tourism leaders in the Monterey Bay area.


"It's a fantastic development for Seaside and the entire region," he said.
Besides having miles of trails for recreationists, the Fort Ord lands contain some of the few remaining places in the world with "large expanses of coastal scrub and live oak woodland and savanna habitat," the White House proclamation said.

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