Trump aims attack at America’s national monuments: 20 at risk
President Trump is ordering a “review” of about half of all national monuments designated since the beginning of 1996, a sweeping action that is intended to shrink boundaries and reduce protections.
The executive order will put more than 20 national monuments in the crosshairs, ranging from rare wildlife habitat to Native American archaeological ruins, stretching from Maine to California to Pacific islands.
The monuments include those designated and supported by Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike — not to mention the American people, who have historically supported presidential land protections.
With this initial assault, all bets are off. Trump could be laying the legal groundwork for attacks on virtually any national monument in America.
Help defend America’s monuments now. Click here to contact your Congress members.
These most immediately at-risk monuments and almost all others — plus a number of legendary national parks like Grand Canyon and Everglades — were first protected using a 1906 law called the Antiquities Act. It has been used on a bipartisan basis by almost every president to give special status to historic or natural landmarks on public lands.
Sadly, anti-conservation zealots in Congress have been gunning for the law for years, trying to make it harder for future presidents to protect landscapes and historic sites like these — or even reversing national monuments already on the books. In Trump, they appear to have an eager anti-parks ally.
Here are some of the monuments the Trump administration is likely targeting with this order:
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (Utah)
Photo: Bob Wick (BLM), flickr.
Dramatic landscape is Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument’s calling card — as a report published by the Utah Geological Association put it, “Nowhere else in the world are the rocks and geologic features so well exposed, so brilliantly colored, and so excitingly displayed” — but there’s a lot going on beneath the surface as well. It has yielded an unusual bounty of dinosaur fossils, including the major discovery of a close ancestor of Tyrannosaurus rex.
Bears Ears National Monument (Utah)
Designated by President Obama in 2016 in response to a coalition of Native American tribes with direct ties to the region, Bears Ears National Monument represented the first time Native tribes had ever joined forces to ask a president to designate a national monument. The reason why is no mystery: Bears Ears is estimated to contain some 10,000 Native American archaeological and ancestral sites. The region itself is named for two sandstone-fringed buttes jutting about 2,000 feet up from the mesa that somewhat resemble an ursine head poking over the horizon. Wildlife that calls the area home includes pronghorn antelope, mountain lions, bighorn sheep, black bears and peregrine falcons.
San Gabriel Mountains National Monument (California)
Photo: Mason Cummings (TWS).
San Gabriel Mountains National Monument protects national forest lands that make up more than 70 percent of Los Angeles County’s scarce open space. The monument serves as an unconventional Southern California “backyard” — miles of wild terrain including majestic mountain peaks, clear rivers and countless recreational opportunities for urban communities that might otherwise not have access to nature.
Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument (Arizona)
Photo: Bob Wick (BLM).
Established by President Bill Clinton near the end of his time in office, Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument covers more than 1 million acres of spectacular scenery, ranging from desert to grassland to ponderosa pine forest, against the northern boundary of Grand Canyon National Park. It roughly doubled the amount of greater Grand Canyon land protected among national parks and monuments, and now contains four designated wilderness areas. It is considered a great spot for backpacking and nature-viewing, and has even been recognized as one of the best places in the country to see starry night skies.
Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument (New Mexico)
Photo: Bob Wick (BLM).
This area in Doña Ana County has long been prized for its rugged landscape, historical and archaeological sites and pockets of solitude, spread across thousands of acres encompassing the Organ, Sierra de las Uvas, Dona Ana and Potrillo Mountain Complexes. The region is considered a crown jewel of the southern Rockies, including a stretch of iconic land that abounds with dramatic mountain peaks, colorful plants, sprightly antelope and majestic birds of prey.
Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
Photo: Greg McFall (NOAA), flickr.
President George W. Bush established Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in 2006, and President Obama expanded it in 2016. The boundaries protects teeming communities of marine life including habitat for whales, sea turtles and tropical fish, while preserving important living laboratories to study the effects of climate change.
Basin and Range National Monument (Nevada)
Basin and Range preserves slices of prehistoric and pioneer life –from 13,000 year old spear points to pioneer ranching and mining sites. At the heart of the landscape are the Garden and Coal Valleys in south central Nevada, surrounded by eight mountain ranges known for their near-pristine condition. The monument also surrounds “City,” a gigantic earthen sculpture informed by pre-Columbian architecture that artist Michael Heizer has been working on for decades.
Mojave Trails National Monument (California)
Photo: John Dittli
Bridging the area between Joshua Tree National Park and Mojave National Preserve, Mojave Trails National Monument protects a stunning array of desert plant life and essential habitat for desert tortoise, bighorn sheep, eagles, falcons and a wide variety of reptiles. The monument includes 350,000 acres of previously designated wilderness, along with the Pisgah Lava Flow, Marble Mountain Fossil Beds and the most intact stretch of historic Route 66.
Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument (Oregon)
Photo: BLM.
Lying at the nexus of the Cascade, Siskiyou and Klamath mountain ranges, Cascade-Siskiyou is a stretch of wildlands that President Bill Clinton called “an ecological wonder.” It was first monument whose protection was motivated specifically by the need to preserve biodiversity — within its boundaries lie grassland, mixed conifer and white fir forests, harboring elk, black bears and a dizzying array of birds — and President Obama expanded it in early 2017.
Gold Butte National Monument (Nevada)
Protected by President Obama, not only is Gold Butte National Monument home to thousands of Native American petroglyphs, but it contains historic mining- and pioneer-era artifacts; rare and threatened wildlife such as the Mojave desert tortoise and desert bighorn sheep; dramatic rock formations; and fossil track-sites dating back 170 to 180 million years ago. It is also a prime spot for hiking, hunting, birding, camping, off-road vehicle use on designated trails and many other activities.
Carrizo Plain National Monument (California)
Photo: Bob Wick (BLM), flickr.
Created by President Clinton in early 2001, Carrizo Plain National Monument is the biological cornerstone for the San Joaquin Valley, a protected refuge for the many endemic and endangered plant and animal species that inhabit the area. Best known for its extraordinary wildflower displays, Carrizo Plains is the largest single native grassland remaining in a western state.
California Coastal National Monument
Photo: Mason Cummings (TWS)
Scenic coastal habitat harbors wildlife including sea lions, beavers, shore birds and raptors in California Coastal National Monument. Perhaps the two most famous threatened species found in the area are Behren’s silverspot butterfly and the Mount Point Arena mountain beaver. Other highlights include Historic Point Arena Lighthouse. The monument was originally designated by President Clinton and later expanded by President Obama (twice).
Giant Sequoia National Monument (California)
Photo: Melissa Wiese, flickr.
Giant Sequoia National Monument contains 33 groves reserved for the eponymous tree species, among the largest organisms on earth (giant sequoias can reach 300 feet in height and 35 feet across). This treasured piece of the southern Sierra Nevada also features limestone caverns, granite rock formations and bountiful wildlife habitat. Popular recreational activities in the greater national forest include fishing, hiking and camping.
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument (Colorado)
Photo: Bob Wick (BLM), flickr.
Reputed to contain the greatest density of archaeological cultural sites in America, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument protects an archaeologically rich landscape of primarily Ancestral Puebloan ruins recording some 10,000 years of human habitation. Thousands of archaeological sites have been recorded in the monument area to date, including up to 100 per square mile in some places — perhaps the highest density of such sites anywhere in the U.S. Hiking and horseback riding are among popular outdoor recreation activities in the monument.
Browns Canyon National Monument (Colorado)
Photo: Mason Cummings (TWS)
President Obama officially designated monument protection for this unique landscape along the east bank of the Arkansas River, an outdoor recreation hotspot that is well known for its whitewater rafting, fishing and hiking. The spectacular outdoor playground generates more than $55 million per year in economic activity for the local economy. Additionally, the area features abundant high quality wildlife habitat for a variety of birds and animals including peregrine falcons, golden eagles, big horn sheep and elk herds.
Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument (California)
Photo: Bob Wick (BLM).
A short drive from the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento, Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument is highlighted by lush forests and meadows. The area is renowned locally for its outdoor recreation opportunities and abundant wildlife like tule elk, mountain lions and bald eagles. It contains habitat ranging from lush oak woodland to clear creeks and fields of wildflowers. Local businesses and others lobbied for Berryessa Snow Mountain to be protected for years before President Obama got it done in 2015.
Rio Grande del Norte National Monument (New Mexico)
Photo: Bob Wick (BLM), flickr.
Rio Grande del Norte National Monument protects some of the most ecologically significant lands in northern New Mexico, including Ute Mountain, which towers over the region and provides excellent habitat for a wide array of species, including elk, bald eagle, peregrine falcon, and great horned owl. The monument also preserves the vast recreational opportunities enjoyed by many within the Rio Grande Gorge and Taos Plateau, such as hiking, biking, camping, rafting, hunting and fishing.
Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument
Photo: NOAA OKEANOS Explorer Program, flickr.
Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, in the Atlantic Ocean, encompasses a series of underwater canyons and seamounts (inactive, submerged volcanoes jutting from the ocean floor) near where the continental shelf plummets into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. This area benefits from oxygen- and nutrient-rich cold sea water as well as the fact that much of it has been spared from human disruption, making it a priceless place for scientific study and preservation of rare species.
Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument (Maine)
Photo: Elliottsville Plantation, Inc.
The Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument took a nontraditional path to monument status — Roxanne Quimby, co-founder of the Burt’s Bees skin-care company, purchased thousands of acres in Maine’s north woods, mostly from timber companies, and donated that land to the National Park Service. Given monument status by President Obama, the area includes vital habitat for moose, bear, lynx and Atlantic salmon. These animals require large ranges to maintain viable populations, and the monument ensures a secure corridor for them as well as protecting important habitat for some rare and endangered plant and insect species.
Vermilion Cliffs National Monument (Arizona)
Photo: Marc Adamus
Vermilion Cliffs National Monument is among the highlights of the Colorado Plateau, a geological formation that reaches into Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. Backpacking, camping and wildlife-watching are popular pastimes, and a large chunk of the monument is protected as the 30-year-old Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, home to some of the most unearthly vistas in the American southwest.
Help defend our monuments now. Click here to contact your Congress members.
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