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.
33
18
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 MessageRapid City, South Dakota -- A crowd of concerned residents gathered today downtown to protest Interior Secretary Zinke’s failed public lands policies, including his efforts to reopen the Southwest Black Hills to toxic uranium mining. If allowed to move forward, the proposed mine would hand over more than 10,000 acres of land to radioactive and destructive mining, much of it subject to Bureau of Land Management mineral claims.
Rapid City, South Dakota -- Secretary Zinke will be speaking to the Western Governors Association at Mount Rushmore, our nation’s preeminent monument, the morning of June 26. The irony of this venue is not lost in the wake of Zinke’s radical reduction of national monuments including Bear Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah.Groups will be protesting Zinke’s presence and failed policies in downtown Rapid City.
Salt Lake City, UT -- The House Natural Resources Committee today will host a hearing on the Emery County Public Land Management Act of 2018. The bill has a unique opportunity to implement a precedent-setting process and notable protections for Utah’s public lands that continue to experience significant roll backs. However, as it stands, the bill would lessen protections and worsen the current status of lands protected. A committee vote is anticipated before the end of Congress.
In an inevitable development, a mining company has laid claim to public lands within Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- House Republicans just passed their version of the 2018 farm bill-- a package that weakens the SNAP anti-hunger program and includes provisions undermining bedrock environmental safeguards for clean water, wildlife and forests.In response, Athan Manuel, director of public lands protection for Sierra Club issued the following statement:
DENVER CO -- Huerfano County Commissioners today asked for oil and gas leases near Great Sand Dunes National Park and the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness be deferred. The Commission voted in favor of asking the Bureau of Land Management to hold off on leasing the sensitive lands until further study can be completed on the impacts of dirty fuel development would have on the area’s waters and environment. The vote follows concerns raised by Citizens for Huerfano County and other community members.
Salt Lake City, UT - Today, the Bureau of Land Management sold off over 15,000 acres of public land in Utah and Idaho to dirty fuels interests. Included in the sale were two parcels totaling over 3,000 acres within ten miles of Capitol Reef National Park, which sold for the minimum bid of $2 an acre.
Las Vegas, NV-- Southern Nevadans will call on Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and the local Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to proceed in public process and begin consulting with locals in the establishing of a management plan for Gold Butte National Monument. The process was essentially cancelled when Zinke carried out a review of 27 national monuments-- leaving Gold Butte’s boundaries and future uncertain while preventing local BLM officials from working on a plan with the public.
FLAGSTAFF, AZ-- Under the direction of Sec. Zinke, the Interior Department has included uranium and vanadium on a recently released list of 35 ‘critical minerals’ for national security. The list was meant to identify non-fuel minerals and is part of the Trump administration’s ongoing economic struggle with China over rare earth metals and resources.
SALT LAKE CITY -- Under the direction of Sec. Zinke, the Interior Department has included uranium and vanadium on a recently released list of 35 ‘critical minerals’ for national security. The list was meant to identify non-fuel minerals and is part of the Trump administration’s ongoing economic struggle with China.
