National monument (United States)

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Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming Devils Tower as Seen From the Path Along the Base.jpg
Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming
Navajo National Monument, Arizona Navajo National Monument Tsegi Canyon Betatakin Dwelling 28-09-2012 9-38-03.jpg
Navajo National Monument, Arizona
Statue of Liberty National Monument, New Jersey and New York Liberty01.jpg
Statue of Liberty National Monument, New Jersey and New York
Fort Matanzas National Monument, Florida Ft Matanzas 2008.JPG
Fort Matanzas National Monument, Florida

In the United States, a national monument is a protected area that can be created from any land owned or controlled by the federal government by proclamation of the president of the United States or an act of Congress. National monuments protect a wide variety of natural and historic resources, including sites of geologic, marine, archaeological, and cultural importance. [1] In contrast, national parks in the U.S. must be created by Congressional legislation. [2] Some national monuments were first created by presidential action and later designated as national parks by congressional approval. [1]

Contents

The 133 national monuments are managed by several federal agencies: the National Park Service, United States Forest Service, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (in the case of marine national monuments). Historically, some national monuments were managed by the War Department. [3]

The Antiquities Act of 1906 gives presidents the power to proclaim national monuments by executive action. President Theodore Roosevelt used the act to declare Devils Tower in Wyoming as the first U.S. national monument.

History

Supt. Frank "Boss" Pinkley - the southwestern national monuments, 1934 Boss Pinkley 1934.jpg
Supt. Frank "Boss" Pinkley – the southwestern national monuments, 1934

The Antiquities Act authorized permits for legitimate archaeological investigations and penalties for taking or destroying antiquities without permission. Additionally, it authorized the president to proclaim "historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest" on federal lands as national monuments, "the limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected." [4]

Presidents have used the Antiquities Act's proclamation authority not only to create new national monuments but to enlarge existing ones. For example, Franklin D. Roosevelt significantly enlarged Dinosaur National Monument in 1938. Lyndon B. Johnson added Ellis Island to Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965, and Jimmy Carter made major additions to Glacier Bay and Katmai National Monuments in 1978. [5]

Early 20th century origin

The Antiquities Act of 1906 resulted from concerns about protecting mostly prehistoric Native American ruins and artifacts (collectively termed "antiquities") on federal lands in the American West.

The reference in the act to "objects of ... scientific interest" enabled President Theodore Roosevelt to make a natural geological feature, Devils Tower in Wyoming, the first national monument three months later. [6] Among the next three monuments he proclaimed in 1906 was Petrified Forest in Arizona, another natural feature. In 1908, Roosevelt used the act to proclaim more than 800,000 acres (3,200 km2) of the Grand Canyon as a national monument.

In response to Roosevelt's declaration of the Grand Canyon monument, a putative mining claimant sued in federal court, claiming that Roosevelt had overstepped the Antiquities Act authority by protecting an entire canyon. In 1920, the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Grand Canyon was indeed "an object of historic or scientific interest" and could be protected by proclamation, setting a precedent for the use of the Antiquities Act to preserve large areas. [7] Federal courts have since rejected every challenge to the president's use of Antiquities Act preservation authority, ruling that the law gives the president exclusive discretion over the determination of the size and nature of the objects protected.

Mid-20th century

In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Katmai National Monument in Alaska, comprising more than 1,000,000 acres (4,000 km2). Katmai was later enlarged to nearly 2,800,000 acres (11,000 km2) by subsequent Antiquities Act proclamations and for many years was the largest national park system unit.

Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, and Great Sand Dunes, among several other national parks, were also originally proclaimed as national monuments and later designated national parks by Congress. [8] [9] [10]

Substantial opposition did not materialize until 1943, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Jackson Hole National Monument in Wyoming. He did this to accept a donation of lands acquired by John D. Rockefeller Jr., for addition to Grand Teton National Park after Congress had declined to authorize this park expansion. Roosevelt's proclamation unleashed a storm of criticism about use of the Antiquities Act to circumvent Congress. A bill abolishing Jackson Hole National Monument passed Congress but was vetoed by Roosevelt, and Congressional and court challenges to the proclamation authority were mounted. In 1950, Congress finally incorporated most of the monument into Grand Teton National Park, but the act doing so barred further use of the proclamation authority in Wyoming except for areas of 5,000 acres or less.

Late 20th century and early 21st century

The most substantial use of the proclamation authority came in 1978, when President Jimmy Carter proclaimed 17 new national monuments in Alaska after Congress had adjourned without passing a major Alaska lands bill. Congress passed a revised version of the bill in 1980 incorporating most of these national monuments into national parks and preserves, but the act also curtailed further use of the proclamation authority in Alaska.

Carter's 1978 proclamations included Misty Fjords and Admiralty Island National Monuments in the U.S. Forest Service and Becharof and Yukon Flats National Monuments in the Fish and Wildlife Service, the first to be created outside of the National Park Service. The latter two became national wildlife refuges in 1980.

The proclamation authority was not used again anywhere until 1996, when President Bill Clinton proclaimed the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument in Utah, after many years of unsuccessful advocacy by conservationists to protect parts of the area. This was the first national monument managed by the Bureau of Land Management. This action was unpopular in Utah, [11] and bills were introduced to further restrict the president's authority, [12] none of which have been enacted. Most of the 16 national monuments created by President Clinton are managed not by the National Park Service, but by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the National Landscape Conservation System.

President George W. Bush created four marine national monuments in the Pacific Ocean, the largest in the system: the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, the Marianas Marine National Monument, and the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument. [13] They are managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration overseeing the fisheries.

President Barack Obama significantly expanded two of them and added a fifth in the Atlantic Ocean, the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. [14]

On June 24, 2016, Obama designated the Stonewall Inn and surrounding areas in Greenwich Village, New York as the Stonewall National Monument, the first national monument commemorating the movement for LGBT rights in the United States. [15] Obama's establishments included several others recognizing civil rights history, including the César E. Chávez, Belmont–Paul Women's Equality, Freedom Riders, and Birmingham Civil Rights National Monuments.

In December 2017, President Donald Trump substantially reduced the sizes of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monuments, removing protections on about 2.8 million acres of land where mining could resume. [16] [17] Three lawsuits challenged the legality of this action in federal court, [18] and in October 2021 President Joe Biden reversed the changes. [19] The restoration of the monuments has been challenged in court in an attempt to attack the Antiquities Act. [20] [21]

List of national monuments

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument</span> National monument in Kane and Garfield counties in Utah, United States

The Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument (GSENM) is a United States national monument protecting the Grand Staircase, the Kaiparowits Plateau, and the Canyons of the Escalante in southern Utah. It was established in 1996 by President Bill Clinton under the authority of the Antiquities Act with 1.7 million acres of land, later expanded to 1,880,461 acres (7,610 km2). In 2017, the monument's size was reduced by half in a succeeding presidential proclamation, and it was restored in 2021. The land is among the most remote in the country; it was the last to be mapped in the contiguous United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinnacles National Park</span> National park in California, United States of America

Pinnacles National Park is an American national park protecting a mountainous area located east of the Salinas Valley in Central California, about five miles (8 km) east of Soledad and 80 miles (130 km) southeast of San Jose. The park's namesakes are the eroded leftovers of the western half of an extinct volcano that has moved 200 miles (320 km) from its original location on the San Andreas Fault, embedded in a portion of the California Pacific Coast Ranges. Pinnacles is managed by the National Park Service and the majority of the park is protected as wilderness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katmai National Park and Preserve</span> National park in Alaska, United States

Katmai National Park and Preserve is an American national park and preserve in southwest Alaska, notable for the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and for its brown bears. The park and preserve encompass 4,093,077 acres, which is between the sizes of Connecticut and New Jersey. Most of the national park is a designated wilderness area. The park is named after Mount Katmai, its centerpiece stratovolcano. The park is located on the Alaska Peninsula, across from Kodiak Island, with headquarters in nearby King Salmon, about 290 miles (470 km) southwest of Anchorage. The area was first designated a national monument in 1918 to protect the area around the major 1912 volcanic eruption of Novarupta, which formed the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, a 40-square-mile (100 km2), 100-to-700-foot-deep pyroclastic flow. The park includes as many as 18 individual volcanoes, seven of which have been active since 1900.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antiquities Act</span> 1906 U.S. law allowing the president to create national monuments from federal lands

The Antiquities Act of 1906 is an act that was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt on June 8, 1906. This law gives the president of the United States the authority to, by presidential proclamation, create national monuments from federal lands to protect significant natural, cultural, or scientific features. The Act has been used more than a hundred times since its enactment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Coastal National Monument</span> All islets, reefs and rock outcroppings along the coast of California

The California Coastal National Monument is located along the entire coastline of the U.S. state of California. This monument ensures the protection of all islets, reefs and rock outcroppings along the coast of California within 12 nautical miles (22 km) of shore along the entire 840-mile (1,350 km) long coastline. Conservative estimates are for at least 20,000 such outcroppings. The monument was created by Bill Clinton via Presidential proclamation on January 11, 2000, with the authority in section two of the Antiquities Act of 1906. As of 2014, the monument has expanded to 2,272 acres (919 ha). The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages the monument, has developed gateways in cooperation with other agencies along the California coast to introduce the monument to the public. These include the Trinidad, Point Arena, Fort Bragg-Mendocino, Pigeon Point Lighthouse, Piedras Blancas State Marine Reserve and Marine Conservation Area, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Although being the most-viewed national monument in California, people are usually unaware that the entire coastline is a national monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument</span> Protected region of ocean and islands

The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM) is a World Heritage listed U.S. National Monument encompassing 583,000 square miles (1,510,000 km2) of ocean waters, including ten islands and atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It was created in June 2006 with 140,000 square miles (360,000 km2) and expanded in August 2016 by moving its border to the limit of the exclusive economic zone, making it one of the world's largest protected areas. It is internationally known for its cultural and natural values as follows:

The area has deep cosmological and traditional significance for living Native Hawaiian culture, as an ancestral environment, as an embodiment of the Hawaiian concept of kinship between people and the natural world, and as the place where it is believed that life originates and to where the spirits return after death. On two of the islands, Nihoa and Mokumanamana, there are archaeological remains relating to pre-European settlement and use. Much of the monument is made up of pelagic and deepwater habitats, with notable features such as seamounts and submerged banks, extensive coral reefs and lagoons.

Escalante National Monument was proposed by Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes in the 1930s as a unit of the U.S. National Park Service in the canyonlands of south central Utah. Centering on the canyons of the Escalante River, the proposed monument encompassed portions of present-day Canyonlands and Capitol Reef national parks, Natural Bridges and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The proposed national monument was to encompass about 4,500,000 acres (1,800,000 ha). The Second World War interrupted Ickes initiative, which had encountered resistance from Utah politicians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the National Park Service</span>

Since 1872 the United States National Park System has grown from a single, public reservation called Yellowstone National Park to include 430 natural, historical, recreational, and cultural areas throughout the United States, its territories, and island possessions. These areas include National Parks, National Monuments, National Memorials, National Military Parks, National Historic Sites, National Parkways, National Recreation Areas, National Seashores, National Scenic Riverways, and National Scenic Trails.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ensuring Public Involvement in the Creation of National Monuments Act</span> Proposed US legislative amendment

The Ensuring Public Involvement in the Creation of National Monuments Act would amend the Antiquities Act of 1906 to subject national monument declarations by the President to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). At present, the President of the United States can unilaterally declare something a national monument, whereas the United States Congress is required to follow a more rigorous series of procedures to gather input from the public. When something is called a "National Monument," that means no action from Congress was required, while something designated a "National Park" did require Congressional action. In addition to limiting the number of national monument declarations the president could make, the bill would forbid the government from declaring land belonging to a private owner as a national monument without the private owner's consent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Gabriel Mountains National Monument</span> National monument in the San Gabriel Mountains of California, United States

The San Gabriel Mountains National Monument is a United States National Monument managed by the U.S. Forest Service, which encompasses parts of the Angeles National Forest and the San Bernardino National Forest in California. On October 10, 2014, President Barack Obama used his authority under the Antiquities Act to create the new monument, protecting 346,177 acres of public lands in the San Gabriel Mountains of the Transverse Ranges. The effort to protect the San Gabriel Mountains began more than a century earlier, in 1891 with another U.S. President, Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president, using a congressional act, to designate and delineate the first federal protection in the United States of forested lands, using the same mountain range name, as the San Gabriel Timberland Reserve. Two earlier California conservationists, Abbot Kinney and John Muir, influenced President Benjamin Harrison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Browns Canyon National Monument</span> Protected habitat in Chaffee County, Colorado

Browns Canyon National Monument is a 21,586 acres (87 km2) national monument in Chaffee County, Colorado, that was designated as such by President Barack Obama under the Antiquities Act on February 19, 2015. The site will be centered along the Arkansas River between Buena Vista and Salida. Browns Canyon is the most popular destination for whitewater rafting in the country, and is also known for its fishing and hiking. The monument will provide habitat protection for bighorn sheep, peregrine falcons, elk, and golden eagles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument</span> Marine protected area off of Massachusetts, USA

The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument is a marine national monument of the United States off the coast of New England, on the seaward edge of Georges Bank. It was created by President Barack Obama on September 15, 2016, as the first U.S. marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bears Ears National Monument</span> Protected area in Utah

Bears Ears National Monument is a United States national monument located in San Juan County in southeastern Utah, established by President Barack Obama by presidential proclamation on December 28, 2016. The monument protects 1,351,849 acres of public land surrounding the Bears Ears—a pair of buttes—and the Indian Creek corridor rock climbing area. The Native American names for the buttes have the same meaning in each of the languages represented in the region. The names are listed in the presidential proclamation as "Hoon’Naqvut, Shash Jáa [sic], Kwiyaghatʉ Nükavachi/Kwiyagatu Nukavachi, Ansh An Lashokdiwe"—all four mean "Bears Ears".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gold Butte National Monument</span> Protected natural area in the U.S. state of Nevada

Gold Butte National Monument is a United States national monument located in Clark County, Nevada, northeast of Las Vegas and south of Mesquite and Bunkerville. The monument protects nearly 300,000 acres of desert landscapes featuring a wide array of natural and cultural resources, including rock art, sandstone towers, and important wildlife habitat for species including the Mojave Desert tortoise, bighorn sheep, and mountain lion. The area also protects historic ranching and mining sites such as the ghost town of Gold Butte, although little but mine openings, cement foundations, and a few pieces of rusting equipment remains. The monument is managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marine policy of the Barack Obama administration</span>

The Marine Policy of the Barack Obama administration comprises several significant environmental policy decisions for the oceans made during his two terms in office from 2009 to 2017. By executive action, US President Barack Obama increased fourfold the amount of protected marine space in waters under United States control, setting a major precedent for global ocean conservation. Using the U.S. president's authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906, he expanded to 200 nautical miles the seaward limits of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument around the U.S. island possessions in the Central Pacific. In the Atlantic, Obama created the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, the first marine monument in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Atlantic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Executive Order 13792</span>

Executive Order 13792, entitled "Review of Designations Under the Antiquities Act," is an executive order issued by US President Donald Trump on April 26, 2017, that directed the Secretary of the Interior to review designations of national monuments made since 1996. The order applies to all new monuments greater than 100,000 acres in size and monuments that were expanded by at least 100,000 acres. Twenty-two land monuments and five marine monuments that were created by the administrations of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama were subject to review.

Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association v. Ross is a United States District Court case in the District of Columbia in which the court determined whether or not a President may establish a marine national monument, the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, under the authority of the Antiquities Act of 1906. The case represents the first time that the President's authority to create an offshore marine monument under the Act was directly challenged in court. While the District Court upheld the President's authority to designate the monument under the authority bestowed by the Antiquities Act, the case was appealed to the D.C. Circuit and awaits further judicial review.

References

  1. 1 2 "What Is a National Monument?". National Parks Conservation Association. November 9, 2022.
  2. ↑ Yard, Robert Sterling (1931). "Difference Between a National Park and a National Monument". The National Parks Portfolio.
  3. ↑ Glimpses of Our National Monuments. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1930. Archived from the original on November 22, 2012.
  4. ↑ "American Antiquities Act". National Park Service. Archived from the original on October 11, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  5. ↑ Canyons of the Ancients National Monument (N.M.). Resource Management Plan: Environmental Impact Statement. January 1, 2009. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Devils Tower first 50 years" (PDF). National Park Service. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 31, 2009. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Cameron v. United States". 1920. 252 U.S. 450. Archived from the original on March 30, 2014.
  8. ↑ "PUBLIC LAW 85-358-MAR. 28, 1958" (PDF). Government Printing Office. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 13, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Records of the NPS". archives.gov. Archived from the original on October 16, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Antiquities Act 1906–2006: Maps, facts and figures". National Park Service. nps.gov. U.S. Department of the Interior. Archived from the original on 12 December 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  11. ↑ Wieber, Audrey (October 12, 2014). "Locals bitter over Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument creation". Twin Falls Times-News. Twin Falls, Idaho. Archived from the original on August 26, 2015. Retrieved July 11, 2015– via MagicValley.com.
  12. ↑ Lewis, Neil A. (October 8, 1997). "House tweaks Clinton over creation of national monuments". The New York Times . Archived from the original on July 20, 2015. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  13. ↑ "President Bush Creates Three New Pacific Marine Monuments in U.S. Pacific Insular Areas". June 18, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Obama Designates 1st Marine National Monument In The Atlantic Ocean". NPR.org. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  15. ↑ "President Obama Designates Stonewall National Monument". whitehouse.gov (Press release). June 24, 2016. Archived from the original on February 16, 2017 – via National Archives. Official announcement from White House Press Office
  16. ↑ Keith Schneider, Trump dramatically shrinks two national monuments in Utah, assailing rule by 'distant bureaucrats', Los Angeles Times (December 4, 2017).
  17. ↑ Eilperin, Juliet (December 8, 2017). "Uranium firm urged Trump officials to shrink Bears Ears National Monument". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on January 2, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  18. ↑ "NRDC et al. v. Trump (Bears Ears)". NRDC. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  19. ↑ "FACT SHEET: President Biden Restores Protections for Three National Monuments and Renews American Leadership to Steward Lands, Waters, and Cultural Resources". The White House. October 8, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  20. ↑ "Utah files suit challenging Biden's monument restoration". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  21. ↑ "Goal of Utah's monument lawsuit: Take down the Antiquities Act". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved September 6, 2022.

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