Our national monuments and public lands and waters help define who we are as a nation by telling the story of our shared cultural, natural, and historic heritage. Since President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act into law, 17 Presidents – 9 Republicans and 8 Democrats – have used it to protect cherished places across our country.
Despite the undeniable benefits of our national monuments and against the wishes of the overwhelming majority of Americans, President Trump illegally attempted to dismantle Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in southern Utah. His unprecedented proclamations eliminated over 2 million acres of public land protections and opened these treasured lands up to mining and drilling claims within the original boundaries of the national monuments.
While these actions are currently being challenged in the courts, Congress took the first step towards acting on behalf of the majority of Americans by solidifying and expanding protections for our treasured national monuments. Two important bills were recently introduced:
The ANTIQUITES Act of 2019 (S. 367/H.R. 1050): Introduced by Senator Udall and Congresswoman Haaland, this bill reaffirms that presidents, whether Republican or Democrat, lack the authority to rescind or diminish national monuments. It also codifies the 52 existing national monuments established or expanded under the Antiquities Act since January 1996. In addition, it expands protections for the Bears Ears National Monument and designates new wilderness within Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, Río Grande del Norte, and Gold Butte National Monuments to build upon the monument protections in these states. The bill would also create a $100 million fund to improvement the management and conservation of national monuments.
The Bears Ears Expansion and Respect for Sovereignty Act (BEARS Act, HR 871): Introduced by Congressman Gallego and Congresswoman Haaland, this bill proposes to expand the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument from the current 1.35-million-acre monument designated by President Obama in 2016 to 1.9 million acres. The 1.9-million-acre boundary is the original boundary proposal by the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition based on a decade-long ethnographic study including traditional knowledge, tribal leader agreements, extensive interviews with spiritual leaders and elders, and GIS mapping verifying the plentiful existence of historic and scientific landmarks or objects. Expanding the monument back to the original concept would protect the full array of over 100,000 culturally and scientifically significant sites from destructive mining or drilling and other threats.
Contact your legislators TODAY and encourage them to support these two important bills.
These bills are an important first step towards restoring and permanently protecting our national monuments for future generations but we need your help! We need every member of Congress to hear from their constituents encouraging them to cosponsor these important bills. Already, more than 100 Senators and Representatives are original cosponsors to the ANTIQUITIES Act of 2019 and 72 Representatives are original cosponsors of the BEARS Act. But we still need more support. Contact your members of Congress today and tell them to stand up for our national monuments!