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 MessageLa secretaria del Interior, Deb Haaland, emitió hoy dos órdenes ejecutivas en las que prioriza la acción climática y revoca políticas de la administración Trump que promocionaban el desarrollo de explotaciones de combustibles fósiles en lugar de la seguridad de las comunidades y la naturaleza.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Interior Secretary Haaland today issued two executive orders prioritizing action on climate change and revoking Trump administration policies promoting fossil fuel development over the health of communities and the outdoors.
WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Today marks the end of a public comment period on the Biden Administration’s pause and review of the federal oil and gas leasing program. The comment period brought an outpouring of support for reforming and phasing out fossil fuel leasing on public lands and waters.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The annual National Park Week returns from April 17–25. The event celebrates our national parks and encourages everyone to get outdoors and explore the history, culture, and landscapes of these treasured places. The event kicks off Friday, April 16 with a Twitter chat for a conversation about National Park Week, ways to recreate responsibly, connected conservation, and other outdoors topics.
WASHINGTON—More than 200 climate, Native American, religious, business and conservation organizations today called on the Biden administration to do a comprehensive environmental review to align federal fossil fuel programs with U.S. climate goals to curb global warming.
Washington, DC— Today, the Department of the Interior is hosting the first public forum on the agency’s oil and gas leasing program. The panel comes during the Biden administration’s pause on new leasing offshore and on public lands, and will bring together stakeholders from across the country to discuss impacts of the current leasing system.
Conservation groups in the Pacific Northwest filed a legal challenge to reinstate federal protections on more than 3.4 million acres of federal old-growth forests, which are essential for the survival of the threatened northern spotted owl. The lawsuit asks the court to reject a rule issued in the last days of the Trump administration that eliminated one-third of the critical habitat protections for the species. The nonprofit law firms Earthjustice and Western Environmental Law Center represent Audubon Society of Portland, Cascadia Wildlands, Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation…
Fresno, Calif.— Conservation groups sued the Bureau of Land Management today over the Trump administration’s rushed sale of seven oil and gas leases on public lands in Kern County, California.
El Senado confirmó hoy a Deb Haaland para liderar el Departamento del Interior. Haaland es la primera indígena en ser miembro del gabinete federal.
The Senate today confirmed Deb Haaland to lead the Department of the Interior. Haaland is the first Native American to hold a cabinet position.
