Las Vegas, NV –Secretary Ryan Zinke is making a visit to the Silver State. This visit comes during a review of national monuments ordered President Trump through an Executive Order given on April 26, 2017. President Trump issued an executive order requiring the Department of the Interior to review national monuments designated since 1996 to determine which could be repealed or reduced.
On June 12th, DOI Secretary Zinke announced he recommends shrinking the borders of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. Bears Ears National Monument is home to tens of thousands of important cultural sites, and is the result of years of work by Tribal Nations -- including the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni, and the Ute Indian Tribe. Gold Butte and Basin & Range National Monuments in Nevada contain many similar cultural sites that date back some 9,000 years. This Executive order is part of a larger effort by the Trump administration to drill, dismantle and degrade our public lands and waters. And Secretary Zinke’s short notice visit to Nevada, serves to exemplify this administration’s willingness to stifle public comments in support of our National Monuments.
The Toiyabe Chapter of the Sierra Club, and other allied organizations held a peaceful rally to show their disapproval of the National Monument review, and the efforts to limit public engagement in front of a political fundraiser Secretary Zinke attended.
In response, Christian Gerlach, Community Organizer for the Sierra Club’s Our Wild America campaign, released the following statement:
“Secretary Zinke’s recommendation to shrink Bears Ears National Monument, and his sneaking into Nevada without notifying stakeholders or even holding a public hearing, shows the Trump Administration will ignore tribal sovereignty, the law, science, and the will of the American people to sell out our public lands. With all national monuments designated since 1996 still under ‘review’ - and the very authority underlying national monuments at stake - this behavior confirms the Trump Administration is on a path to open Nevada’s public lands to resource exploitation by polluting interests at the expense of the health of local communities, national parks, public lands, precious water resources, and future Nevadans.
“In Nevada, ignoring the hard work of local people who labored for decades to protect the existing and recently approved monuments not only disrespects the time and effort invested to develop the public land, it creates distrust in our government process and threatens our democracy. Nevada will defend against this injustice to America’s public lands, waters, and all future generations of our planet.”
###