Today is the last opportunity to gain free admittance to National Park Service properties as part of the federal agency’s celebration of National Park Week.

For the Western Slope, it’s a great reminder of how fortunate we are to be so close to many iconic landscapes. Colorado National Monument, Dinosaur National Monument, Arches National Park and Black Canyon National Park are day-trip destinations for us. Many of our fellow Americans travel hundreds, if not thousands of miles to see them.

Many conservation groups are piggybacking on the celebration with a dire warning that the Antiquities Act that gave rise to these protected places is under attack.

For a century, U.S. presidents have enjoyed unilateral authority under the act, but former President Barack Obama’s controversial decision to create Bears Ears National Monument in Utah set the table for a reform movement. With the election of Donald Trump, some Republican lawmakers in Washington, D.C. saw an opportunity to reel in presidential power and “right the wrongs” (in the words of Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch) of previous administrations. One proposal is to make Congress and the states partners in designating parks and monuments.

Read more at The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.