Closer to home the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument was created by presidental decree. "The Monument was declared in September 1996 at the height of the 1996 presidential election<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._presidential_election,_1996>campaign by President Bill Clinton <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton>, and was controversial from the moment of creation. The declaration ceremony was held at Grand Canyon National Park<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon_National_Park>in Arizona <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona>, and not in the state of Utah. The Utah congressional delegation and state governor were notified only 24 hours in advance. This was seen by many as a transparent political ploy to gain votes in the contested state of Arizona. That November, Clinton won Arizona by a margin of 2.2%, and lost Utah to Republican Bob Dole <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dole> by 21.1%" (quote from Wikipedia) I thought at the time Clinton did it to screw Utah because Utah was the only state he had come in 3rd pllace in his first election. I think Kanab High School woke up the next morning to find out half of their football field was in the new national monument. Nobody from Utah was invited to the ceremony. It was especially a slap in the face for former Demcratic senator Frank Moss who had worked diligently to get more national parks in Utah. Deloy