Ecological-Economic CONTEXT

In April 2017, President Donald Trump signed an executive order tasking the Department of Interior to review 27 national monuments and 5 marine national monuments. It will soon decide whether to rescind the protective designations, to make the monuments smaller, or to keep their extent and degree of protection intact. An important part of the process has been the collection of public input, and Department of Interior has received comments from more than 2.8 million people.

Key findings

In an innovative analysis employing crowdsourcing and machine-learning, Key-Log Economics analyzed and reviewed ALL 1.3 million comments submitted during the public comment period. Key findings from the study include:

• 99.2 percent of comments OPPOSE the proposed elimination or weakening of protection for special places like Bears Ears, Katahdin Woods and Waters, and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments.
• Support for national monuments (or opposition to the Administrations’ tampering with their protection) is strong for each monument and cuts across geography and interest area
• Some of the strongest support for the land protection measures comes from individuals concerned about tribal rights, healthy ecosystems, future generations, and historical/cultural artifacts and places.

outcomes

• After public outcry and DOI review of public comments, Secretary Zinke sent a draft report to the White House in August 2017 indicating he would not seek elimination of any national monuments.

AMERICAN TREASURES

Bears Ears National Monument, Utah. 
(Photo credit-Bob Wick)
There are 27 national monuments in the United States encompassing 11.3 million acres. These federal lands are designated as monuments for their cultural, historical, or scientific value.

Resources

• Review of Citizen Input regarding the review and potential loss of protection for National Monuments
  • Press Release with report highlights
  • Results Summary for 15 threatened monuments
• Learn more about the national monuments issue from The Wilderness Society
• Read articles in Civicist and Outside magazine about this effort.​​

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"More than 99.2% of the people who commented on President Donald Trump's national-monuments review were in complete agreement: Leave the monuments alone."
-Christopher Solomon, Outside Magazine Contributing Editor

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see also

Boundary Waters | Sulfide Ore Mining

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge | Oil Drilling

Wilderness Areas | Ecosystem Service Benefits

Header Source - Credit Bob Wick, BLM