Published May 12, 2017 07:29PM
Now's Your Chance to Weigh in on What Should Happen to America's National Monuments
The comment period for the Department of the Interior's review of Bears Ears and other national monuments is open—and the result could change America's public lands in a big way.
'John Fowler'
Love public lands? Now’s the time to tune in. In an executive order issued last month, President Donald Trump ordered the Department of the Interior to conduct a review of 27 national monuments designated or expanded since 1996. While Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke has framed it as a move to allow local communities a say in decisions that affect them, opponents say the review could be the first step in a campaign to open up monuments like Bears Ears to mining and drilling.
Starting today and running through May 26, the Department of the Interior will be taking public comment. That means its your chance to weigh in: you can submit your own opinion on the review’s page on regulations.gov. (Old-fashioned? Mail it in to Monument Review, MS-1530, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20240.)
At the time of writing, the agency says it has received a total of 1,030 comments.
Below is a list of the monuments in question—6 in California; 4 in Arizona; 2 each in Utah, New Mexico, and Nevada; one each in Washington, Colorado, Montana, Maine, and Idaho; and 5 marine monuments.
- Berryessa Snow Mountain
- Carrizo Plain
- Giant Sequoia
- Vermillion Cliffs
- Mojave Trails
- Sand to Snow
- San Gabriel Mountains
- Craters of the Moon
- Canyons of the Ancients
- Katahadin Woods and Waters
- Sonoran Desert
- Grand Canyon-Parashant
- Ironwood Forest
- Upper Missouri River Breaks
- Basin and Range
- Gold Butte
- Organ Mountains – Desert Peaks
- Rio Grande del Norte
- Bears Ears
- Grand Staircase-Escalante
- Hanford Reach
- Cascade Siskiyou
- Marianas Trench
- Northeast Canyons and Seamounts
- Pacific Remote Islands
- Papahanaumokuakea
- Rose Atoll
