WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, Interior Secretary Zinke finally released full recommendations for the future of the country’s national monuments. The recommendations follow a sham review by Secretary Zinke and call for reductions to Gold Butte and Cascade-Siskiyou National Monuments, while recommending a rollback of protections for six of other monuments, opening them to destructive resource extraction.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, President Trump eliminated protections for vast portions of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah, effectively abolishing the two monuments. The proclamation repeals 85% of the Bears Ears National Monument and cuts Grand Staircase-Escalante by almost half.
SALT LAKE CITY -- Vet Voice Foundation and Sierra Club Military Outdoors launched a billboard campaign in Utah today calling for the defense of public lands. The billboards go up the same day as President Trump is visiting the state. Trump is widely expected to announce sweeping reductions to Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments.
The billboards are placed along I-80 and near Hill Air Force Base.
Photos for the billboards were provided by Jeff Clay | Clayhaus Photography.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Rep. Gallego today introduced legislation to preserve the Bears Ears National Monument and to expand safeguards for areas important to Tribal Nations that were left out of the original designation. The legislation comes as leaked documents show the Trump administration is planning massive reductions to Bears Ears National Monument, cutting the monument by 85%. Also on the chopping block is Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which could be cut by half.
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 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.
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
The House Natural Resources Committee today will take up legislation by Rep. Bishop that would essentially gut the Antiquities Act. The bill, HR 3990, would create a de-facto ‘no more parks’ policy. The legislation is a continuation of the Trump administration’s ongoing attempts to sell out public lands to corporate polluters-- attempts also to be addressed by the committee today as it takes up legislation from Rep. Grijalva, H. Res. 555, to force President Trump and Interior Secretary Zinke to make public information related to Zinke’s sham review of national monuments across the country.
The Sierra Club praised news today that President Obama will designate new national monuments recognizing the country’s civil rights history