August 18, 2026
National Monuments
National Monuments
Protecting existing monuments, expanding these cherished spaces, and fighting for new monuments is an important piece of Sierra Club's conservation work.
Allen Canyon area Hand print Bears Ears National Monument
What is a national monument?
National monuments are lands and waters designated for permanent protection by the federal government. They are widely popular across parties. They include areas of important natural, cultural, and historic resources, from geological wonders to sacred Indigenous landscapes to sites that have shaped our history.
Unlike national parks, which only Congress can designate, national monuments can be established by the President. We must fight to keep these places protected! Trump is attempting to dismantle monuments like Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante. We're fighting to safeguard these places in court!.
The United States has over 130 national monuments that are managed by federal agencies. While most are managed by the National Park Service, some are managed by other agencies like the US Forest Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management.
Canyon of the Ancients National Monument
Why are monuments important?
National monuments are protected lands, waters, or historic sites that safeguard our natural, cultural, scientific, and historic resources and legacies. They are an important tool for protecting public lands and waters for generations to come.
National monuments are also part of our response to the climate crisis. Conserving 30 percent of US lands and waters by 2030 will protect the air we breathe, water we drink, and provide a powerful climate solution. Preserving wildlands will protect vital habitats for imperiled species and save more places to connect with nature. Safeguarding places of cultural and historical significance will help honor the stories, sites, and landscapes that make us who we are.
33
states with national monuments
18
presidents have designated monuments
National monuments protect geologic, marine, archaeological, and cultural sites
Protecting wild places will keep drilling and logging from polluting our air and water, and suck existing climate pollution out of the air. Creating national monuments is one of the best ways to protect public lands and preserve homes for wildlife and opportunities for people to enjoy the outdoors together.
What We Are Doing
Paria Rimrocks, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah
The Sierra Club has been pivotal in the conservation and expansion of national monuments for more than a century, reflecting a broader commitment to preserving natural landscapes, combating climate change, and ensuring everyone’s history and connections to US lands are honored and celebrated.
Right now, Donald Trump, the billionaires who bought access to him, and their allies in Congress are waging an all-out assault on our parks and public lands, firing thousands of federal workers who steward these landscapes, shredding conservation protections for fragile ecosystems and places, and seeking to overturn more than a century's worth of conservation history. Their goal is to give public lands to corporate polluters and billionaires to mine, drill, log, and pollute as they please — activities that effectively block access to public lands for everyday people.
We must use every tool at our disposal, from the courts to pressuring our leaders to collective action, to stop this polluter giveaway. Every victory we've won to protect the places we hold dear has been thanks to the grassroots support of advocates like you who have written a letter, called your legislators, attended an event, posted on social media, talked to friends and family, donated, and so much more.
What You Can Do
Defend Grand Staircase & Bears Ears Monuments!
Defend Grand Staircase & Bears Ears Monuments!
July 2026 monument attack
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Press Releases
August 17, 2026
EL PASO, TX — Following widespread bipartisan outrage, Donald Trump’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott announced Monday that the agency is temporarily pausing all construction activity in Big Bend National Park as he visits the site this week. Scott did not say how long the pause would last or commit to canceling the project.
August 17, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The public was forced to navigate five separate comment processes across three federal agencies as the Department of the Interior launched a sweeping review of longstanding policies protecting millions of acres of America’s wildest public lands.
August 7, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Recent reporting has raised serious questions about Interior Secretary Doug Burgum's leadership of the Department of the Interior, describing an agency plagued by dysfunction, rampant staff departures, secrecy, and a management culture that has left career employees demoralized and sidelined.
August 4, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Sierra Club and its North Carolina Chapter condemn a recent ICE operation at Wilson Creek Recreation Area in Pisgah National Forest that resulted in 13 arrests.
Trump Administration Proposal Would Strip Tribal Consultation and Public Input from Federal Projects
July 27, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Friday, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation voted to advance changes that would weaken federal oversight of construction projects affecting historic sites and culturally important landscapes.
July 28, 2026
LAS VEGAS— The Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter today filed an administrative appeal challenging federal approval of the Townsite Data Center in Boulder City, Nevada.
July 17, 2026
Removal of buffer exposes communities and sacred landscapes to oil and gas extraction
July 13, 2026
Salt Lake City – The Trump administration today signed an executive order intended to dismantle Southern Utah’s national monuments, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. It is the administration’s latest effort in a long line of attacks that threaten cherished public lands.
July 10, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, news media outlets have begun reporting that Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order as soon as Monday, July 13 to dismantle the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments.