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 MessageWASHINGTON, D.C. -- After weeks of threatening to block the major military spending bill, President Trump vetoed the 2020 National Defense Authoritzation Act. The $740 billion bill is the major vehicle for funding the U.S. military and passed both the House of Representatives and Senate with veto-proof majorities. The 2020 bill includes a provision that would redesignate military installations currently named after prominent Confederate military and political leaders.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) finalized a rule change that alters the process for designating critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act. This will weaken the ability to designate critical habitat for at-risk species and prioritize economics over science. The rule gives increased weight in decision making to developers to prioritize oil and gas development and other industries over safeguarding and restoring habitat for endangered species.
ALBUQUERQUE, NM. -- President-elect Biden today nominated Rep. Deb Haaland to serve as Secretary of the Interior. The Department of the Interior manages the country’s national parks and approximately 450 million acres of public lands, oversees wildlife and other conservation efforts, and upholds Federal trust responsibilities to Indigenous communities.
President-elect Biden today nominated Rep. Deb Haaland to serve as Secretary of the Interior. The Department of the Interior manages the country’s national parks and approximately 450 million acres of public lands, oversees wildlife and other conservation efforts, and upholds Federal trust responsibilities to Indigenous communities.
The Trump administration tomorrow is expected to finalize a rule to circumvent establishing habitat protections for endangered and threatened species. The rule follows a string of other efforts and rollbacks to weaken the Endangered Species Act under the Trump administration.
Reno, NV-- A broad coalition of conservationists, Native Americans, sportsmen and women, elected officials and others are celebrating the Congressional vote today that denies the U.S. military its long sought-after expansions of two major facilities in Nevada, at the Fallon Naval Air Station and the Nellis Test and Training Range.
The Trump administration opened bidding today in the first auction of California federal public lands to oil companies in eight years. Despite community opposition and ongoing legal disputes, the Bureau of Land Management put over 4,000 acres in Kern County up for sale for oil drilling and fracking.
In the final text version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) released today, Congress has denied the Defense Department’s request to seize more than 1.7 million acres of land in Desert National Wildlife Refuge and other public lands for military bombing ranges. The decision comes after Tribal Nations, conservationists and communities joined to push back on the proposal.
HARRISBURG, PA -- Responding to robust public input, the National Park Service announced plans to make the park experience more inclusive and welcoming for all visitors through its final visitor use management plan for Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and Middle Delaware National Scenic and Recreational River. The plan will allow for free entry, enhance trails, expand picnicking areas, and improve accessibility for those with disabilities.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On Friday, the Department of the Interior unveiled “descriptions” of proposed projects to be prioritized under the Great American Outdoors Act. The details ranged from confusing to entirely unhelpful and were immediately met with bipartisan criticism from members of Congress.
