Trump Administration Plans To Shrink Several National Monuments

Trump and his administration are disrespectful and unproductive in attempting to stamp out Obama’s legacy.

Ryan Zinke, Trump’s Secretary of the Interior, aims to shrink the geographic size of 27 national monuments. Thankfully, eliminating monuments or touching national parks is not possible.

Zinke’s plan to shrink our monuments is a statement against conservation and is a direct attack on the natural world. Bear’s Ear National Monument, located in southeast Utah, is under threat.

It was established as a national monument in 2016 by Barack Obama. Zinke plans to decrease the monument to one-tenth its current size.

Many Utah leaders agree federal control of the area is not best their constituents. Oil companies drill near the monument. If the monument shrinks, its land could be sold to oil companies.

Are voices arguing to shrink the monument hiding oil-stained conflicts of interest? Nobody respects the environment more than big oil, believe me.

Given Trump’s ‘America first’ message, why doesn’t he respect our national treasures? Not protecting our ecosystems and denying climate change is unpatriotic.

Many Native Americans in the area advocate against Zinke’s plan. Five separate tribes advocated for the monument’s establishment. Bear’s Ears protects countless Native American artifacts.

The federal government changing their mind and taking away land protecting Native American culture is nothing new. This part of our history is nothing to be proud of, let alone repeat.

Many environmental groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, oppose Zinke’s plan. Many suggest legal action, which could have legal repercussions for Trump’s administration.

If most of Bear’s Ears is stripped of protection, industries would move in, the woodlands in the area cut down, and Native American artifacts replaced with oil derricks.

Figures in the federal and Utah government claim they represent the people of southeast Utah.

Are Native Americans whose ancestors have lived there for centuries being fairly represented?

Nevada’s Gold Butte and New Mexico’s Rio Grande Del Norte are also monuments under threat.

Obama’s major legacies as president include an improved US-Cuba relationship, Obamacare, DACA, plans lower carbon emissions, and support of conservation. These legacies, as well as monuments established by Obama, are threatened by the Trump administration.

Blindly rolling back a predecessor’s legacy reveals Trump’s inability to negotiate when he feels insulted, which is almost always. This playing a role in his policies feels childish and ignorant.

That would comparable to if William Taft’s entire presidency involved stamping out Teddy Roosevelt’s legacy: getting rid of Yellowstone, the Pure Food and Drug Act, and Panama Canal.

Shrinking monuments follows Trump’s ‘war on the environment’. Trump has said climate change is made up by “the Chinese.”

I enjoy natural areas, viewing plants and animals, and hiking. Florissant Fossil Beds, with its ancient redwood stumps and sunny groves of Ponderosa Pine, and Muir Woods, with its dark redwood forests, are two national monuments I very much enjoyed visiting.

This proposed plan is infested with greed and conflicts of interest. Trump’s administration has harmed our country.

While other actions of this administration receive more attention, this deserves just as much outrage. Of all of the issues with this administration, their attack on the environment, displayed by Trump’s climate change denial and Zinke’s attack on monuments, is among the most terrifying actions of this insane administration.