President Trump signs executive order to review national monuments

Washington (April 26, 2017) – Statement from Former Defenders of Wildlife President and CEO, Jamie Rappaport Clark on President Trump’s Executive Order calling for a review of at least two dozen national monuments designated since 1996:

“The Antiquities Act was signed by President Teddy Roosevelt more than a century ago to safeguard cultural, historical and biological treasures for the benefit of all Americans. President Trump’s order threatens to undermine an American legacy that sixteen different presidents have helped create since 1906.

“No president has ever attempted to revoke a predecessor’s national monument designation. These monuments are a part of our heritage and preserve sites and landscapes that define who we are as a nation. Efforts to reduce or eliminate monuments would also undermine their effectiveness at protecting wildlife and habitat.

“Like his recent actions to eliminate national climate policy and protections for wildlife and public lands, the President’s latest order is contrary to overwhelming public support for conserving our natural heritage. This isn’t what the American people want, and the only acceptable outcome of this order is the continued preservation and stewardship of our national monuments – every single one of them.

“Rather than threatening to undo our national monuments, the President should consider where he might designate his own monuments and contribute to this presidential bequest to the country.”