FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FLAGSTAFF, AZ — Monday’s report in the Washington Post further proves that the Trump administration’s national monument review has been a predetermined exercise from the very beginning, designed to prioritize extractive uses of protected public lands and waters. It is clear that the Department of the Interior repeatedly ignored science, public opinion, local economic benefits, cultural resources, and all other available evidence to arrive at recommendations to eliminate protections for national monuments.
In response to this report, a diverse array of organizations representing outdoor recreation, conservation, historic preservation, cultural heritage, scientists, archaeologists, paleontologists, and many others collectively maintain that the only way for the Trump administration to win back the trust of the American people and to restore public faith in the management of our shared national monument lands and waters would be to take the following actions to reverse this ill-conceived review:
- Rescind the illegal presidential proclamations 9681 and 9682 that attempt to eliminate over two million acres of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments and manage them in accordance with Proclamations 9558 and 6920 respectively.
- Publicly reject the additional recommendations included in Secretary Zinke’s report to the president.
- Rebuke Secretary Zinke’s mishandling of this review and launch an investigation to determine the full extent of the mismanagement, ideological bias, public deception, and rejection of fact-based analysis that occurred during the national monument review.
