Sierra Club: New Day, New Threats to Public Lands

WASHINGTON, D.C. --  Today, Interior Secretary Zinke finally released full recommendations for the future of the country’s national monuments. The recommendations follow a sham review by Secretary Zinke and call for reductions to Gold Butte and Cascade-Siskiyou National Monuments, while recommending a rollback of protections for six of other monuments, opening them to destructive resource extraction. The recommendations come despite the vast majority of the of 2.8 million public comments received insisting that national monuments be left alone.

Yesterday, President Trump issued proclamations that unlawfully revoke protections for 85 percent of Bears Ears National Monument and nearly half of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, both in Utah. The groundwork for both proclamations can be found in Secretary Zinke’s recommendations released today.

In response Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune issued the following statement:

“The gravity of Trump and Zinke’s decisions to strip our public lands of protections is hard to overestimate. We’re witnessing an attack on our public lands at a scale never before seen in the entire history of our country. Most assuredly today’s recommendation risks the history, culture, and economies wrapped up with all our wild places. But it’s also a threat to the principles of democracy and a disturbing part of a systematic undermining of outdoor spaces for everyone. We will continue to vigorously defend our country’s public lands against this onslaught of corporate polluter cronyism. There are some things money shouldn’t be able to buy.”