National Monument Update:
The Washington Post has published a leaked copy of Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke’s National Monument report. Read it here. It has the following suggestions:
- Bears Ears National Monument, Utah: Shrink (separate reports suggest by as much as 1 million acres) the National Monument and allow ‘traditional’ uses like mining, logging and drilling in protected areas.
- Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah: Shrink the National Monument and allow ‘traditional’ uses like mining, logging and drilling in protected areas.
- Cascade Siskiyou National Monument, Oregon and California: Shrink the National Monument and allow ‘traditional’ uses like mining, logging and drilling in protected areas.
- Gold Butte National Monument, Nevada: Shrink the National Monument and allow ‘traditional’ uses like mining, logging and drilling in protected areas.
- Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, New Mexico: Allow ‘traditional’ uses like mining, logging and drilling in protected areas; leaves open the possibility of shrinking the Monument.
- Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, New Mexico: Allow ‘traditional’ uses like mining, logging and drilling in protected areas; leaves open the possibility of shrinking the Monument.
- Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, Maine – Specifies that logging should be allowed in the National Monument; leaves open the possibility of shrinking the Monument.
- Northeast Canyons and Seamounts, Atlantic Ocean – Allow industrial-scale commercial fishing in the national monument; leaves open the possibility of shrinking the Monument.
- Pacific Remote Islands National Monument, Pacific Ocean – Shrink the National Monument; allow industrial-scale commercial fishing in the National Monument.
- Rose Atoll National Monument – Shrink the National Monument; allow industrial-scale commercial fishing in the National Monument.
While California Monuments adjacent to the Eastern Sierra have been spared (for now), this is a historic threat to American public lands. A threat to one is a threat to all. Contact your legislators and the Department of the Interior and voice your support for National Monuments.