Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said Thursday that he’s recommending that none of 27 national monuments carved from wilderness and ocean and under review by the Trump administration be eliminated.
But there would be changes to a ‘handful,’ he said, angering conservation and tribal groups advocating for total preservation.
They are criticizing Zinke for not making public his list of recommendations about the monuments.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said Thursday that he’s recommending that none of 27 national monuments carved from wilderness and ocean and under review by the Trump administration be eliminated
A youngster explores the Penobscot River’s East Branch at the new Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument near Patten, Maine. Zinke wants to retain the newly created national monument, but said he might recommend adjustments
An aerial view of Arch Canyon within Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. It was also under review by the Trump administration
Zinke told The Associated Press that unspecified boundary adjustments for some monuments designated over the past four decades will be included in the recommendations he planned to give President Donald Trump on Thursday.
None of the sites would revert to new ownership, he said, while public access for uses such as hunting, fishing or grazing would be maintained or restored.
He also spoke of protecting tribal interests and historical land grants, pointing to monuments in New Mexico, where Hispanic ranchers have opposed two monuments proclaimed by President Barack Obama.
Zinke declined to say whether portions of the monuments would be opened up to oil and gas drilling, mining, logging and other industries for which Trump has advocated.
The recommendation not to eliminate any of 27 U.S. national monuments protecting wilderness and ocean has not alleviated concerns from conservation and tribal groups advocating for total preservation.
League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski said the review of the national monuments ‘has been a complete sham’ and a pretext for ‘selling out our public lands and waters’ to the oil industry and others.
Ben Schreiber, senior political strategist at Friends of the Earth, says Zinke’s action is illegal and ‘he can rest assured that his latest giveaway to corporate polluters will be litigated in the courts.’
Gavin Noyes of Utah’s tribal coalition Dine Bikeyah that pushed to preserve the Bears Ears National Monument on tribal lands in southeastern Utah says it is prepared to launch a legal fight against even a slight reduction in that monument’s size.
Defenders of Wildlife vice president of landscape conservation Mark Salvo says downsizing any national monuments would have a negative impact on fish, wildlife and plants.
In this undated file photo, the Upper Gulch section of the Escalante Canyons within Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument features sheer sandstone walls, broken occasionally by tributary canyons
A hiker walks on a rock formation known as The Wave in the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in Arizona, another monument under review
The Penobscot River’s East Branch flows through the new Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument near Patten, Maine
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wants to retain the newly created Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in northern Maine, but said he might recommend adjustments to the White House on Thursday
Mount Katahdin in seen in this view from the Katahdin Woods and Waters Scenic Byway outside Patten, Maine
And Jamie Williams, president of The Wilderness Society, is urging President Donald Trump to ‘ignore these illegal and dangerous recommendations and instead act to preserve these beloved places.’
A White House official said Thursday that President Donald Trump has received Zinke’s document and is reviewing his ‘recommendations to determine the best path forward for the American people.’
The official was not authorized to publicly discuss a draft report and insisted on anonymity.
Among the monuments the Trump administration official was reviewing was the Escalante National Monument. The Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in Arizona was also under review.
The newly created Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in northern Maine is also facing unknown adjustments as a result of Zinke’s review. So is the Gold Butte National Monument near Bunkerville, Nevada.
Susie Gelbart walks near petroglyphs at the Gold Butte National Monument near Bunkerville, Nevada