Reasonable people including Rep. Dave Reichert voted against it, but the U.S. House of Representatives still passed an amendment this month that would make it harder for presidents to protect the places we care about as national monuments.

Since being signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, the Antiquities Act has been used by eight Republicans and eight Democratic presidents to protect important public lands as national monuments including the Statue of Liberty, the Tetons and the Grand Canyon.

Here in Washington, local residents are asking the president to consider protecting 1,000 acres of land currently owned by the Bureau of Land Management in the San Juan Islands as a national monument. Many Bellevue residents enjoy this breathtaking place on family vacations.

At a time where there is widespread community support for protecting these special places in the San Juans, now is not the time to limit the options to protect these and other precious lands.

With Congress focusing on politics instead of protecting our heritage, a presidential monument designation makes a lot of sense. Just like Rep. Reichert’s vote.

Tom Reeve