Boston, MA — In response to the Secretary of Department of the Interior, Ryan Zinke visiting Boston today, residents rallied in support of US National Monuments, such as Bears Ears in Utah, and the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument by holding signs and using social media. These monuments safeguard marine treasures off the coast of Cape Cod including spectacular underwater landscapes and sea life that is under stress from climate change.
“Secretary Zinke’s recommendation to shrink the borders of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah goes against the wishes of the American people, and does not represent the values of Massachusetts,” said Emily Norton, Massachusetts Director for the Sierra Club. “Furthermore, when making his recommendations, the Secretary failed to adequately consult the Tribal Nations for whom the Monument holds cultural significance. This recommendation makes it clear that the Trump administration is willing to ignore sovereignty, law, and the will of the American people to sell out our public lands.”
On April 26, President Trump issued an executive order requiring the Department of the Interior to review national monuments designated since 1996 to determine which could be repealed or reduced. On Wednesday, Secretary Zinke announced he recommends shrinking the borders of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. This Monument is home to tens of thousands of important cultural sites and is the result of years of work by Tribal Nations -- including the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni, and the Ute Indian Tribe. This Executive order is part of a larger effort by the Trump administration to drill, dismantle and degrade our public lands and waters.
"Trumps executive order is part of a larger effort to sell off America’s public lands and waters for fossil fuel development and commercial exploitation," said Joe O'Brien of the ELM Action Fund. "Efforts to shrink national monuments will hurt local economies, undermine one of the nation’s most important conservation tools, and make a mockery of the decades of work that local communities have invested to protect these places for future generations.”
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.
About Environmental League of Massachusetts Action Fund
ELM Action Fund helps pass laws that protect our environmental legacy, hold our elected officials accountable, and works to build the political power of the environmental community.