Protecting existing monuments, expanding these cherished spaces, and fighting for new monuments is an important piece of Sierra Club's conservation work.
Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument
National monuments are lands and waters designated for permanent protection by the federal government. They include areas of important natural, cultural, and historic resources, from geological wonders to sacred Indigenous landscapes to sites that have shaped the history of the United States.
Unlike national parks, which only Congress can designate, national monuments can either be established by the President under the authority of the 1906 Antiquities Act or by an act of Congress.
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
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.
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presidents have designated monuments
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.
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.
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Send My MessageToday, the Biden administration released a report updating Americans on the progress towards the ‘America the Beautiful’ plan, also known as 30x30, a framework to conserve at least 30 percent of U.S. lands, freshwater, and ocean areas by 2030 and ensure all people have access to the outdoors.
Today, the Department of the Interior released its final report calling for reforms of the current fossil fuel leasing program on public lands and offshore.
Today, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced the formation of a departmental task force to review and replace racist and derogatory place names among the country’s geographic features.
Today, the Bureau of Land Management announced a plan to defer a number of leases from upcoming onshore oil and gas lease sales and issue draft environmental assessments for these leases. BLM will solicit feedback on the leases and analyze environmental impacts including national greenhouse gas emissions and the social cost of greenhouse gases.
Today, the Outdoors Alliance for Kids called on Congress to maintain full funding for critical outdoors programs in the final version of the federal reconciliation bill. The package drafted by the House of Representatives includes nearly $35 billion in funding for federal programs to support community tree planting, urban parks development, nearby nature access, and youth access to the outdoors and nature. While these programs are popular and necessary for taking on the climate crisis, their full funding is being threatened by potential cuts to the $3.5 trillion package.
This week, the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources held a hearing on a series of bills, including Senator Padilla’s PUBLIC Lands Act (S.1459). The legislation would protect more than one million acres of public lands and well over 500 miles of rivers in California’s Northwest, Central Coast, and Los Angeles regions. Senator Padilla testified in support of the legislation in the hearing.
Reports emerged this month that Congress was considering massive cuts to the proposed Civilian Climate Corps in the Build Back Better Act to meet the fiscal demands of moderate Democrats. Such a move would severely limit the impact of the modern CCC, leaving many vulnerable communities at risk to the increasing threats of climate change. The modern CCC is consistently one of the most popular proposals in the reconciliation bill, with a majority of Americans — including a majority of Republicans — in favor of the program.
Washington, DC -- The Biden administration has announced it will recommend a full restoration of safeguards for three national monuments whose boundaries were shrunk by the Trump administration. Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments as well as Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Marine Monument protect about five million acres of federal land and water — and will help the Biden administration achieve its goals of conserving 30% of lands and waters by 2030.
The federal reconciliation bill drafted by House Democrats is shaping up to be one of the largest investments in outdoor accessibility and equity in a generation.
A 21st-century CCC is essential to a green recovery and taking on the multiple crises we face.
