This Land is Your Land
A plan proposed by the Trump Administration and U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke has surfaced, and it reveals an effort to shrink several national monuments and modify the management of a few others to allow for previously prohibited activities, like logging, drilling, and mining.
These threatened national monuments, which include Bears Ears and Cascade-Siskiyou National Monuments, and a couple marine monuments, were designated under the Antiquities Act of 1906, whose purpose is to protect special, historically or scientifically significant, expanses of American land. The Act was created under President Theodore Roosevelt to protect exploitation of American lands after many years of looting and destruction of ancient Native American sites.
The Antiquities Act has been used by all except four presidents since T. Roosevelt to protect beautiful areas of the American landscape. I visited many of the designated national monuments including Muir Woods in the Redwood Forest of California, Devil's Tower in Wyoming, and the Castillo de San Marcos here in Florida. Becoming a National Monument is also often the first step in becoming a National Park, as was the case for Grand Canyon and Olympic National Parks. The diversity of the national monuments contain anthropologically significant artifacts, areas of rich biodiversity, historic sites, or landscapes that exist only in that one area.
The Trump Administration's attempt to significantly alter several existing national monuments has never been done before and would set a scary precedent with significant negative consequences. Allowing mining, drilling, logging, and grazing in previously protected areas would permanently damage the lands. Also, all of these activities have been proven to increase the rate of climate change. The habitats of native plants and animals would be reduced, as well as areas used for outdoor recreation and tourism.
These at risk monuments are treasured by Americans and should not be contracted out to destructive industries. Our public lands represent the beauty and history of our country and I would hate to see them go. This land is your land, and there are many ways to make your voice heard to keep them protected. The best way is to call your senators, the direct connection between you and the federal government. You can even call the office of Secretary Zinke as well. Also, there are many environmental and park protection groups that work every day to keep public lands safe such as the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club. Be a voice, and a force, for nature.
Learn more about the Antiquities Act, including a list of all of the national monuments here.
Articles about the national monument alterations:
