Tell Congress: Protect & expand Bears Ears National Monument

The petition to Congress reads: "Support the Bears Ears Expansion and Respect for Sovereignty Act to undo Donald Trump's massive giveaway to the fossil fuel industry and protect sacred Native American lands and fragile environmental areas." Add your name:

Now, with Democrats firmly in control of the House of Representatives, we have a shot at reversing Trump's massive giveaway of public lands to the fossil fuel industry. When Donald Trump illegally slashed the size of Bears Ears National Monument by 85 percent in 2017, the fossil fuel industry was laughing all the way to the bank: The sacred Native American lands and fragile environmental areas protected by President Obama would soon be open for oil and gas drilling.1 Reps. Ruben Gallego and Deb Haaland recently introduced legislation to expand Bears Ears National Monument to 1.9 million acres and protect 100,000 culturally and scientifically significant Native sites. With drillers already buying leases in the Bears Ears region, it's now more urgent than ever to demand that Congress protect and expand this important national monument. Tell Congress: Protect and expand Bears Ears National Monument. Click here to sign the petition. Ever since Trump began his occupation of the White House, he and his administration have waged war on public lands and put the profits of fossil fuel companies and big polluters ahead of American and Native people. For the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2018, the number of oil and gas leases on public lands nearly tripled those offered during the Obama administration, covering an astounding 12.8 million acres with much of it being destroyed by dirty hydraulic fracturing.2 In fact, a recent report by the USGS found that drilling on public lands and offshore areas accounts for 24 percent of all greenhouse emissions in the United States.3 The Bears Ears Expansion and Respect for Sovereignty Act would not only prevent destructive, climate-harming drilling on these precious public lands, but it would also expand protections to more sites containing sacred Native artifacts and scientifically important fossils, which are currently under threat by looters and vandals.4 The legislation has broad support, with more than 70 original cosponsors, many major environmental groups and leaders from the Hopi tribe and Navajo Nation.5 Activism by indigenous leaders, environmentalists and more than 85,000 CREDO members to protect Bears Ears played a big role in convincing President Obama to create the national monument before he left office. Now we need to speak out once again to ensure Congress stops Trump's war on public lands before any more damage is done to Bears Ears. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/bears-ears-expansion?t=9&akid=31712%2E3130208%2Ecw0cLV - Josh Nelson, CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: Eric Lipton and Lisa Friedman, "Oil Was Central in Decision to Shrink Bears Ears Monument, Emails Show," The New York Times, March 2, 2018. Eric Lipton and Hiroko Tabuchi, "Driven by Trump Policy Changes, Fracking Booms on Public Lands," The New York Times, Oct. 27, 2018. Miranda Green, "Public land drilling contributes a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions in US: report," The Hill, Nov. 26, 2018. Michael Greshko, "Rich Fossil Trove Found on Land Removed From Bears Ears Monument," National Geographic, Feb. 22, 2018. Rep. Ruben Gallego, "Reps. Ruben Gallego and Deb Haaland Re-Introduce Bill to Protect Bears Ears National Monument," Jan. 30, 2019.

TAKE ACTION! The Trump Administration wants to mine our national monuments before our day in court

Last December, President Trump flew to Utah and issued an order to strip protections from millions of acres in Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante national monuments. It was a dark day for public lands in this country. The administration is currently scrambling to take advantage of Trump’s unlawful order, developing new plans to open these lands up to coal and uranium mining before Americans can have their day in court to protect the monuments.

These lands belong to the public, not to coal and uranium companies that want to plunder their resources, leaving devastation in their wake. The Department of the Interior is taking public comments now — tell the Trump administration that these lands aren’t up for grabs.

Bears Ears and Grand Staircase are unique wonderlands. Bears Ears contains ancient cliff dwellings, kivas, and priceless petroglyphs, while Grand Staircase is home to a treasure trove of fossils—more than a dozen new dinosaur species have been discovered there since the monument was established.

Trump’s hasty plans will allow coal, oil, and gas companies to mine and drill nearly 700,000 acres of lands that rightfully should be part of Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Under this “preferred plan,” extractive industries will destroy almost all of the lands unlawfully cut from Grand Staircase — all for the private profit of a few corporations. These lands are far more valuable to the local economy and the local job market if they remain protected.

Trump’s plan will also exclude the Bears Ears Tribes — the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni, and Ute Indian Tribe — from truly having a voice in the management of public lands that hold their priceless heritage.

We’re in court to protect both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase, and we’re making progress. Last month a federal judge denied the Trump administration’s efforts to move our cases to Utah, and ordered the administration to give us advance notice before it allows mining activities to disturb these special places.

Help us stop this needless destruction. Weigh in now during the public comment period for Trump’s new plans for these monuments. These lands don’t belong to coal and uranium companies — they belong to all of us.

- Heidi McIntosh, EARTHJUSTICE

Add comment: Oppose Interior Sec. Zinke's proposal for opening Bears Ears to mining, logging and drilling

We always knew Interior Secretary Zinke had a plan for Bears Ears -- and now we have the details. He just unveiled a proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the national monument, and it's a shameless gift to his friends in the dirty fuel industries.

When Tribal nations urged President Obama to designate Bears Ears as a national monument, they stressed the need to protect its sacred sites from looting. With this proposed plan, Zinke is rushing to loot it himself. Add your comment opposing his destructive proposal for Bears Ears.

The canyons and mesas of Bears Ears are dotted with ancient cliff dwellings, great houses, and shrines -- over 100,000 archaeological sites in all. Most of these sites have never been studied by archaeologists, but local tribes have held them sacred for thousands of years.

Late last year, Trump and Zinke illegally shrank Bears Ears by 85%, despite the fact that only Congress has the power to alter a national monument. We're challenging them in court, but Zinke is racing to mine and drill in the monument before its boundaries are settled. The Tribes wanted Bears Ears to be a place of healing, but soon this landscape could be permanently scarred.

Under Zinke's direction, over 1 million acres will not receive the protections from drilling and mining mandated by President Obama's monument designation. And he's not stopping there -- this new proposal would step up logging and grazing in the 15% of Bears Ears that is still protected as a monument.

Zinke has no right to raid these lands for profit. Add your comment and tell him you oppose this greedy, reckless management plan.

- Lena Moffitt, Sierra Club

To leave your own PUBLIC COMMENT, go to:

https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/planAndProjectSite.do?methodName=dispatchToPatternPage&currentPageId=141293

Sample Comment:

Please do not open up any of the lands illegally taken out of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to oil and gas drilling, mining, or other industrial energy development. These lands are essential to supporting the region’s ecosystems and wildlife, contain countless archaeological artifacts, support jobs and economic vitality, and are simply too important to sacrifice for energy development. Save these public lands so that they can be enjoyed by all Americans, and not turned into instruments of profit for corporate special interests.

More information:

Proposed Management Plans For Utah Monuments Released, Draw Criticism

Ryan Zinke spent his first year in office selling off rights to our public lands

Tell Congress to oppose bills that roll back protections on public land

Citadel Ruins at Bears Ears 

Right now, some of our most cherished landscapes, cultural landmarks, and pristine natural preserves are threatened by three separate bills in Congress.

We can stop these bills, but only if we act now. Send a message to your lawmakers: our country's natural treasures need more protection, not less.

Opposing these bills is crucial — if passed, they would permanently enshrine the recent, controversial rollbacks shrinking Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments into law and fundamentally change the Antiquities Act itself. That's the law that allows Presidents to protect special places through a national monument proclamation, originally championed by Teddy Roosevelt starting in 1906. It's protected countless national treasures like Devil's Tower, Chaco Canyon and the Grand Canyon.

To stop these bills, every member of Congress needs to hear from people like you — people who are committed to safeguarding the fragile beauty of our public lands. Stand up now and tell Congress that you oppose these dangerous bills.

- Shiloh Stark, The Nature Conservancy

By filling out the form found on the link above, the following message will be delivered to your Senators and your Representative:

Stop legislation that threatens public lands

I stand in firm support of our nation's public lands and urge you to help defeat H.R. 3990, H.R. 4532, and H.R. 4558. Our cherished landscapes and waters are home to our greatest natural treasures, and we cannot afford to roll back protections that previous Presidents have enacted.

National monuments and public lands not only inspire us; they give us clean water and air, provide vital wildlife habitat, and generate billions of dollars in recreational activities. Places like these need more protection, not less.

Arizona Contact Info:

Rep. Martha McSally
Tucson office: (520) 881-3588
https://mcsally.house.gov/contact/email

Sen. Jeff Flake
Tucson office: 520-575-8633
https://www.flake.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-jeff

Sen. John McCain
Tucson office: (520) 670-6334

https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-form

Urge Pres.Trump and Secr. Zinke to stop attacks on our beloved national monuments

Along with his Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke, President Trump is dismantling two of our country's most spectacular national monuments — Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante — so the land can be opened up to drilling, mining, and other exploitation.

Make no mistake: an attack on any national monument is an attack on all of them. We must speak up in defense of these priceless treasures before it's too late.

That's why I've recorded this new short video. Please, watch my video now — then join me in calling on President Trump and Secretary Zinke to stop their dangerous, destructive attacks on our beloved national monuments.

The threat this administration poses to our national monuments extends far beyond those found in Utah — Secretary Zinke has also recommended that President Trump downsize two monuments in Oregon and Nevada, and throw open six more to industrialization, including our nation's first marine monument off the coast of New England.

These are natural treasures that have been handed down to us from generation to generation. And it's on us — all of us — to ensure they are protected for future generations to enjoy.

Thank you for joining me in standing up for our natural heritage, our national monuments, and our shared environmental future.

Sincerely,
 
Robert Redford
Trustee, NRDC

Click here to send the following message to President Trump and Secretary Zinke:
 (Consider personalizing your message for even more impact.) 

Your message will be sent to:

President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke

Subject line: Stop attacks on our beloved national monuments

Dear President Trump and Secretary Zinke:

I am outraged that you are working to dismantle some of our priceless national monuments. I call on you to rescind these attacks immediately and honor the legacy of Teddy Roosevelt by protecting our monuments from industrial exploitation. 

Your proclamations stripping protections from Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments are simply unlawful. Presidents have the authority to create national monuments under the Antiquities Act, but only Congress can revoke or shrink them. 

The proposal to downsize and allow logging, mining, drilling, and commercial fishing in six other national monuments, including Gold Butte and Cascade Siskiyou, is reckless and shortsighted. These sites have irreplaceable historic and cultural value, and once they are lost to industrial ruin, there is no bringing them back.  

Our national monuments are a cherished part of our natural heritage as Americans -- and it's our responsibility to protect them for future generations, not open them up to be plundered for coal, oil, gas, and uranium profits. Please reverse your decision to roll back national monument protections and instead fulfill your duty as public officials to protect our treasured national monuments and public lands.

Thank you.

Submit a public comment to Protect Bears Ears From the Oil Industry

President Trump’s decision last December to dramatically shrink Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante national monuments in Utah was illegal, and we’re suing to stop it.

Meanwhile, though, Trump’s Bureau of Land Management is pushing ahead with a plan to open up these amazing public lands to fossil fuel development.

Will you act today to protect them?  Submit a public comment to the BLM.

Tell the BLM that these spectacular landscapes shouldn’t be opened up for oil and gas development. Instead, these monuments should continue to protect wildlife and the tens of thousands of cultural and paleontological artifacts they contain.

By standing up to Trump’s BLM, you’re building the movement to protect our public lands.

- Valerie Love, Ignite Change

Submit your public comment before March 19: NO mining in Bears Ears and Grand Staircase national monuments

The Wilderness Society is challenging President Trump's rollback of protections for Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in court, and the law is on our side.

But in the meantime, the Trump administration is shamelessly moving forward with the land planning process that will open these priceless lands to uranium and coal mining, reckless off-road vehicle use and other impacts.

The Interior Department is currently accepting public comments on these new land planning efforts. 

Please tell them it is premature and irresponsible to open our monuments to industry while Trump’s actions are being challenged.

If they insist on moving forward with new land use plans for any portion of Bears Ears or Grand Staircase-Escalante, they must prioritize the protection of cultural and ecological resources.

Help us hold the line while we fight in court--submit a public comment in defense of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante.

- The Wilderness Society 

Submit a public comment in defense of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante to Assoc. Monument Manager Matt Betenson and Bureau of Land Management District Manager Lance Porter.

Sign the public comment by clicking here. (Please, personalize it for even more impact.) 

The comment reads:

President Trump's Proclamation 9681 and Proclamation 9682 are each the subject of ongoing legal challenges, and it is therefore premature and irresponsible for the Bureau of Land Management to move forward with the planning efforts for the tracts affected by those decisions. 

If the agency moves forward, any management plans created for the Indian Creek, Shash Jaa, Grand Staircase, Kaiparowits and Escalante Canyons units should reflect the intent of the original proclamations establishing the Bears Ears (Proclamation 9558) and Grand Staircase-Escalante (Proclamation 6920) national monuments. The plans should prioritize the protection of cultural and ecological resources in all the monument lands.  

Additionally, for both Bear Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, new public hearings should be scheduled in Salt Lake City, UT, Flagstaff, AZ, Denver, CO, Washington D.C. and Albuquerque, NM, in addition to the "gateway communities" of each monument.  

Thank you. 

National Day of Action for Public Lands

Due to the Trump administration’s actions last December, the lands that make up the historic Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments in Utah will be opened up to roads and the mining industry today, Friday, Feb. 2, 2018.

Join us in protest today for the National Day of Action for Public Lands. Here’s what you can do:

• If you’re on social media, share your support of Senator Tom Udall and others who introduced the 2018 ANTIQUITIES Act. This bill would ensure that opportunities for hunting, tourism, scientific research, conservation and cultural uses in our national monuments are protected for future generations. Tweet this or share on Facebook.

• Email or call your representative and urge him or her to oppose H.R. 4532 and H.R. 4558, bills that back Trump’s cuts to Grand Staircase Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments. Learn more about these bills here.

Take action now to save our public lands — and tell your friends, neighbors and family to do the same.

- Valerie Love, Deputy Director, Ignite Change

www.ignitechange.org

Listen to LEGISLATIVE HEARING
House Committee on Natural Resources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FlGJZXcmTk&feature=youtu.be

Tucsonans, to get more involved, attend a local organizing meeting: 

Tucson Ignite Change

Joel D Valdez Main Library

101 N. Stone Ave.

Tucson, AZ 85701

GET MAP

Date and time:

Feb. 4, 2018 at 2 p.m.

Directions:

There is a public parking garage and the first hour is free. Meeting Room: Children's Room.

Attendee count:

26 attendees

Host:

Fabiola Delgado

Join us at Joel D Valdez Main Library downtown for our 4th Ignite Change meeting to discuss the ballot initiative to ban trophy hunting of wildcats in Arizona. We're teaming up with organizations like the Humane Society, and need your help to get it passed! At the meeting we'll be discussing the details of the measure and the first steps to getting it on the ballot for 2018.

More information on the wildcats here. 

ASK CONGRESS TO DEFEND AMERICA’S NATIONAL MONUMENTS AND OPPOSE ANY LEGISLATION THAT WOULD UNDERMINE THE ANTIQUITIES ACT

Click here to e-mail letter below.

Our national monuments and public lands and waters help define who we are as a nation by telling the story of our shared historical, cultural, and natural heritage. And that’s why I was deeply disappointed in President Trump’s decision to not only eliminate national monument protections for more than 2 million acres of public lands within southern Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, but also specifically allow for more mining and drilling claims to be made within the original boundaries of these monuments at 9 am on February 2nd. I ask you to do all you can to defend America’s national monuments and oppose any legislation that would undermine the Antiquities Act.

Since President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act into law in 1906, 16 Presidents – 8 Republicans and 8 Democrats – have used the authority granted by the act to safeguard public lands, oceans, and historic sites in order to share America’s story with future generations. These national monument designations are broadly supported from coast to coast and provide a myriad of benefits to local communities, including economic boosts from tourism, places to enjoy the outdoors, clean air and water, protection for ecologically sensitive areas, and windows into our country’s history.

I am gravely concerned about legislation introduced in Congress that would weaken future Presidents’ ability to preserve our national heritage and that would take management of public lands out of the hands of the American people. I strongly urge you to oppose S. 22, S. 33, S. 132, H.R. 243, H.R. 2074, H.R. 2284, H.R. 3990, H.R. 4532, and H.R. 4558; to oppose the Antiquities Act provisions in H.R. 200, H.R. 1489, H.R. 3905, and H.R. 4239; and to vote NO if any of these measures reach the floor. Additionally, I urge you to stand with the national monuments reviewed by the Department of the Interior, and to advocate for keeping their protections intact.

National monuments are our legacy to our children and our children’s children, and a gift that belongs to all Americans. Please take a stand for future generations by defending the Antiquities Act.

- Monuments for All

To tweet about it click here. 

Trump just announced massive cuts to Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments.

Trump just made it official. Minutes ago, during his first trip to Utah as president, he announced massive cuts to Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments.

The reductions are widely assumed to be a way to open more of these priceless landscapes to mining and drilling. Bears Ears' boundaries will be shrunken by a staggering 85 percent. Grand Staircase-Escalante will be sliced in half. The largest rollback of protections in history with more than 2 million acres total erased. His illegal actions might not stop there with many other national monuments rumored to be next.

The stakes have never been higher. Here are three things you can do right this minute to fight back:

(Note from Desktop Activist Tucson: As a rule, I don't post fundraising calls. I'm making an exception here because the Wilderness Society needs the money to take Trump to court. And that may be our best chance to save our National Parks. We can't let him set a precedent of legally dismantling our national parks. )

1. Donate to support our legal action against the Trump administration. We will be filing suit, and we're not doing it alone. Please help bring the fight to Trump. Your donation will be matched 2-1 to challenge Trump in court.
2. Sign our petition. Trump's actions are unprecedented and incredibly unpopular. We can't allow him or other politicians any "cover"--we must show them we, the people, oppose these assaults on OUR wildlands and on Native American tribal culture.
3. Tweet at Trump. The president cares what people say about him...a lot. Almost as much as he cares about his daily TV regimen. He also loves Twitter. Let Trump know how you feel about this attack on public lands right on his favorite medium.

- The Wilderness Society 

UPDATE: ON JUNE 12 PRUITT RECOMMENDED THAT BEARS EARS NATIONAL MONUMENT BE DOWNSIZED

Secretary Zinke’s decision today to recommend to reduce the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument is a disappointment and a threat to all monuments under review, including the Grand Staircase-Escalante.

After a “listening” tour that intentionally excluded stakeholders and a public comment period where the people of Utah joined with the American public to overwhelmingly implore the Secretary to make no recommendations altering our beloved national monuments, today’s news comes with little surprise. “Disregarding the very process this administration constructed, this report from Secretary Zinke is blatant attack on a monument that has been decades in the making. Bears Ears already represents a compromise between Rep. Rob Bishop’s Public Lands Initiative and the requests of the Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition,” said Nicole Croft, Executive Director of Grand Staircase Escalante Partners. “ This recommendation should be viewed for what it is: another land grab in a shameful history of violating the sovereignty of Native American people.”

The vast majority of legal scholars agree that while the Antiquities Act grants the President the power to designate a monument, only Congress can modify the boundaries, and any attempt to shrink the national treasure that is Bears Ears National Monument through executive action would certainly be vigorously challenged within the courts.

That is just the beginning! Now our own Arizona Congressmen are after the nearby Ironwood Forest National Monument and the Sonoran Desert National Monument!

Have you added your public statement yet? Please, take a moment to share why these monuments are important to you, Arizona or the planet. 

The deadline is TODAY,  Monday, July 10th. 

http://monumentsforall.org/

Tell Congress to protect our public lands before it's too late

The threat to unravel protections for Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument is one step closer to reality. After a rushed review, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced he recommends eliminating protections for portions of Bears Ears.

An attack on one national monument is an attack on all of our public lands. If all areas in the current Bears Ears National Monument are no longer protected, what is fate of the 26 national monuments also under review, our national parks, our wildlife refuges, and other public lands and waters?

It’s clear that the Department of the Interior and the Trump administration have a common goal -- auctioning off our public lands and waters to those who put profits before our historical, cultural, and natural heritage. Now, Congress must step up to protect our special places.

Tell your members of Congress to commit to protecting our public lands and waters for generations to come.

For the most impact, add a personal message to this: 

I am appalled by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s recommendation to eliminate protections for portions of Bears Ears Bears Ears National Monument. It’s clear that the Department of the Interior and the Trump administration have a common goal -- auctioning off our public lands and waters to those who put profits before our historical, cultural, and natural heritage. Now, I look to you to do what this administration will not -- to protect our special places for generations to come. Even in the rush to open up our public lands to destruction, over a million people have weighed in with Secretary Zinke to tell him to keep our public lands in public hands and to protect them for future generations. I hope that you will listen to your constituents like me, and stand up for our special places. For over a century, Congress has played an important role in safeguarding and preserving our lands, waters, and cultural and historical sites for all people to enjoy. This slow motion threat to America’s national parks, public lands and oceans could undo this work. After years of work by Tribal Nations  -- including the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni, and the Ute Indian Tribe -- and with overwhelming support by people across the country, Bears Ears National Monument became a reality. These lands are vital to tribal communities across the Colorado Plateau as a place of subsistence, spirituality, and healing. These lands are home to tens of thousands of important cultural sites, including the cliff dwellings, villages, and rock art panels of the Ancestral Puebloan people. We cannot turn our back on protecting invaluable places like this. Based on Interior Secretary Zinke’s recommendation for Bears Ears, the threat to protections for the 26 national monuments still under review by the DOI has never been more real. These are extraordinary places that showcase our country’s wide-ranging geography and cultural history. Spanning two oceans and 12 states, these national monuments feature ancient coral reefs, giant sequoias, expansive deserts, snow-capped mountains, breathtaking canyons, flower-filled plains, red rock wonders, and wild forests. Our national monuments tell the stories of cultures dating back millennia, continue to be a sacred place for many Native American Tribes, and offer people endless opportunities to experience the great outdoors. We cannot allow our public lands to be opened to development and changed forever. Our parks, monuments, and other public lands define who we are as a nation. Please be a leader,  stand with the public, and protect our  public lands and waters.

Save our National Monuments. Leave a comment today!

Add caIronwood Forest National Monument (Arizona)
Photo credit: Mike Quigley (TWS)ption

The Department of the Interior is "reviewing" previous national monument designations to recommend changes in their status, and it's up to the public to weigh in and defend the shared lands that matter to us. Your voice is crucial right now.

Because of a radical executive order from President Trump, at least 27 national monuments designated since the beginning of 1996--including places like Vermilion Cliffs, Ironwood Forest and Sonoran Desert national monuments in Arizona, as well as Utah’s stunning Bears Ears National Monument--are immediately in danger.

The goals of the Trump administration and its anti-public lands allies are clear: shrinking monument boundaries, reducing protection and chipping away at the great tradition of preserving shared lands for all Americans to enjoy.

Bears Ears is on the docket first. Soon after, Vermilion Cliffs, Sonoran Desert and Ironwood Forest—some of the most stunning landscapes in Arizona—will also be under review, as well as Grand Canyon-Parashant, one of the best places in the country to see starry night skies. It’s time to stand up for Our Wild.

In trying to weaken safeguards for places like Arizona's treasured national monuments, Trump is not only threatening cherished landscapes, but hurting local communities that rely on these monuments for jobs and quality of life. We must use this public comment period to show the administration what a bad idea that is.

Please submit a comment today. Speak up for America’s national monuments and other public lands.

- The Wilderness Society 

Tell your Congress members not to allow our public wild places to become Trump's gift to the fossil fuel industry

Last week proved one of the worst weeks for wilderness since Trump took office. We must defend against this massive sellout of our lands and waters. Click to call your Congress members to tell them not to allow our public wild places to become Trump's gift to the fossil fuel industry.

On April 26, Trump signed an order that paves the way for stripping protections for any of America’s national monuments designated since 1996.

That same week, Trump signed an illegal order to reverse restrictions on drilling in sensitive waters in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans.

Meanwhile, Congress is working to reverse more pollution protections, while the Senate has launched efforts to open one of America’s wildest places, the pristine Arctic Refuge, to dirty oil development.

It’s time to fight back! Please click here to call your Congress members and ask them to:

Respect America’s love for public wildlands by not supporting legislation that sells out our national monuments or wildlife refuges to oil and gas interests.

Vote no on any measures to weaken pollution and climate change protections.

The Wilderness Society

Trump directed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to begin a sham review process aimed at shrinking or eliminating many national monuments.

President Trump's frenzy of executive orders continues. This time, he's trying to hand over the keys to some of America's most treasured national monuments... to industrial interests, including his fossil fuel and mining allies.

He just directed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to begin another sham review process aimed at shrinking — or even eliminating — many national monuments designated over the last two decades by Presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton.

Specific targets include two iconic monuments — the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah. Others at risk include the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off Cape Cod.

NRDC fought for years, with extensive public support and involvement, to win strong protection for these national treasures. We are not about to let them be sacrificed to industrial greed. And we're going to need your immediate activism to stop this land grab.

Take action: Demand that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke stand up to President Trump and maintain protections for America's cherished national monuments.

Call 1-202-601-3839 and tell Secretary Zinke that any attempts to revoke or shrink our national monuments is an assault on our historical, cultural, and natural heritage.

Since Teddy Roosevelt, presidents have used their authority under the Antiquities Act to protect countless natural wonders like the Grand Canyon, New Mexico's Chaco Canyon, California's Muir Woods and Mojave Trails, Utah's Natural Bridges and Washington's San Juan Islands.

But commercial interests like mining and fossil fuel companies, and the ranching and commercial fishing industries, are chomping at the bit to roll back existing national monuments and gut the Antiquities Act. With this executive order, President Trump seems intent on doing their bidding.

National monuments protect our environmental and cultural heritage, and they're also good for our economy. Outdoor recreation generates billions of dollars and millions of jobs every year. In 2016, National Parks saw a record 331 million visits, contributing almost $35 billion to the U.S. economy.

Speak out now and show Trump and Zinke that millions of Americans are watching — and outraged — by these attempts to trade in America's national monuments for corporate gain.

Make no mistake: NRDC will not surrender special places like Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante and the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts without an all-out fight in the federal courts.

But first, we need to bring massive pressure to bear on Trump and his Interior Secretary.

NRDC is prepared to fight the Trump administration's attacks on our public lands — in and out of court — for as long as it takes to win.


Rhea Suh
President, NRDC


Sample letter:

Dear Secretary Ryan Zinke.

I am outraged that President Trump is considering rolling back the Antiquities Act and stripping protections from some of our recently established national monuments, including Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante and the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts. I ask that you fulfill the mission of your agency by protecting America's public lands and maintaining the integrity of these  monuments and of the Antiquities Act itself. 

Stand strong against President Trump's attempt to rollback national monument protections, which would serve corporate interests, not the American people.