National Monuments

Federal officials are reportedly considering shrinking at least six national monuments in the Mountain West region to increase energy development on public lands.

The Trump administration could potentially redraw the boundaries of national monuments as part of a push to expand energy production. The new Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, issued orders to review monuments, and some in our region may be on the list.

A bipartisan team of researchers leads Colorado College's annual "Conservation in the West" poll of about 3,300 voters in eight western states: Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.

Two representatives from our region are seeking to strip presidential powers to designate national monuments and historic landmarks. But Indigenous communities caution the effort could remove a safeguard for sacred lands and pave the way for development.

Other avenues to change the monument’s name are on hold while Congress considers the bill.

Biden has created six new monuments and expanded or restored more. He’s had a particular emphasis on protections called for by tribes.

The arguments center around a federal law signed in 1906 called the Antiquities Act, which allows presidents to protect areas of federal lands with “critical natural, historical and scientific resources.”

A coalition of Western conservationists and tribes are working to protect more public lands before the November presidential election.

A new report highlights how states in the West benefit from national monuments, which are waters and lands that are permanently protected.

In its first three years, the Biden administration has protected millions of acres and spent billions on conservation.