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 MessageThis afternoon, the House Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on the “SECURE American Energy Act.” The bill aims to expand oil and gas drilling by rolling back federal regulations and removing protections for America’s public lands and waters.
For months, the Interior Department, Bureau of Land Management, and the White House Council on Environmental Quality have repeatedly failed to answer the public’s Freedom of Information Act requests for information related to the Trump administration’s ongoing review of national monuments—protected federal lands and waters that belong to the American people. Today, Earthjustice filed a lawsuit on behalf of six organizations whose requests for information on national monuments have been met with radio silence.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today is holding a hearing to explore drilling in the sensitive coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. As part of the budget process, the committee has been tasked with raising $1 billion over 10 years-- a feat that would only be possible through Arctic Refuge drilling if companies paid exorbitant lease prices.
Robert Vessels with Sierra Club’s National Military Outdoors program will join the class of 2017 Emerging Leaders to lead proceedings at The SHIFT Festival, which starts tomorrow in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The Emerging Leaders program honors and trains a diverse group of outdoor recreationists to help revitalize conservation by making it relevant to all Americans.
The Salt Lake Tribune is reporting today that President Trump has promised to approve a proposal by Interior Secretary Zinke to strip protections from large swaths of Bears Ears National Monument.
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on the FY18 budget resolution (216-212) which advances drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
A leaked draft of the Interior Department’s five-year strategic plan for 2018-2022 showed the agency prioritizing increasing oil and gas drilling on national public lands.
Today members of the Gwich’in Nation led a rally in Washington, D.C. to unite against the destruction of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The group traveled more than 4,000 miles to speak out against a Congressional budget that opens the door to drilling in the Arctic Refuge, including in its biological heart the coastal plain. Sierra Club joined the rally, along with members of Congress, the Hip Hop Caucus, Green Latinos, veteran leaders, and Alaska Wilderness League among others. Solidarity events are being held nationwide throughout the week.
LOS ANGELES-- Sierra Club Ambassador Kiersey Clemons joined a three day Sierra Club Outing to Bears Ears National Monument in Utah to experience the extraordinary red-rock terrain and deep history of Tribal Nations tied to this area. The monument is at the center of the Trump administration's plans to roll back protections for iconic lands across the country. Watch the just released video from Clemons’ trip here: https://youtu.be/WAQxN5DTmVU
Under the leadership of Secretary Zinke, the Department of the Interior has proposed raising entry fees at major national parks across the country. The proposal would hamper the the public’s ability to enjoy our natural wonders at the same time that Zinke is looking to ease access for the fossil fuel industry.
