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Business Owners, Veterans, Outdoor Recreationists, and Conservation Leaders from Maine to Oregon Speak Up for National Monuments in Wake of Stealthy Review

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Juan Roberto Madrid, Colorado Clean Transportation & Energy Policy Advocate, [email protected]

(Durango, CO) – On his first day in office, President Donald Trump made clear in multiple Executive Orders that his Administration would prioritize offering up our water, our wildlife, and our ways of life as sacrifices to corporate polluters as part of his anti-public lands agenda. Today, his newly confirmed Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum took that direction by signing an order mandating a blisteringly short 15-day initial review of all lands withdrawn from fossil fuel and mining development, including hundreds of our national monuments. 

Secretarial Order 3418 “Unleashing American Energy” mandates that the Interior Department, which manages millions of acres of public land, including our trails and campsites, finish its initial monument review by February 18. This sinisterly subtle order aligns with Trump’s actions during his first term, when he led the largest rollback of public land protections in history, slashing Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand-Staircase Escalante national monuments by 85 and 47 percent, respectively. Yet in this case, the review includes all the country’s monuments under the Interior Department that were created via the Antiquities Act. Unlike in 2017, there is no mention of an accompanying public comment period. Importantly, the order does not reference either national monuments or the Antiquities Act by name, referring to the latter only by its U.S. code number. 

This is a sneaky, unpatriotic attack that strikes at the very foundation of the country’s beloved public lands, including national parks and monuments. These national treasures are broadly beloved. They safeguard our water, buoy the outdoor recreation economy, protect our trails, and preserve a national heritage rich in culture and natural beauty. Attacks on the outdoors, such as this order from Secretary Burgum, threaten the $640-billion recreation economy, putting millions of jobs at risk, particularly in rural states such as North Dakota. 

The order fails to recognize that oil production hit record highs under the Biden administration. This isn’t about energy dominance. Washington politicians and their billionaire advisors have an unpatriotic anti-public lands agenda that aims to dismantle our national monuments for corporate polluters. This action from Secretary Burgum is part of a broader scheme to sell off our public lands, national heritage, and outdoor access to the wealthy and well-connected that will block access to regular Americans for hiking, camping, hunting, and fishing. 

The Supreme Court has affirmed a President’s authority to create national monuments. Both Democratic and Republican Presidents – including Donald Trump – have used this law to safeguard vital places for the benefit of the American people. Republican President Teddy Roosevelt signed this power into law almost 120 years ago for this purpose. 

These cherished places, which play a vital role protecting clean drinking water, sheltering wildlife, and ensuring outdoor access, were established with the express intent to preserve the nation’s cultural and ecological heritage for all, honoring generations past, present, and future. The national monuments that the Trump Administration is reviewing have the support of local communities and businesses that worked for years to ensure their protection. These actions are not just an affront to public lands and waters, they are attacks on the leadership of the Indigenous communities and Tribal Nations who have worked for years to protect these places. 

President Trump’s agenda does not have the public’s backing. National monuments and parks are extremely popular. Eighty-five percent of Western voters believe U.S. Presidents should create more of these places. Utah voters - both Republicans and Democrats – overwhelmingly support Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, with over 70 percent in favor of keeping them as national monuments. 

When President Trump first tried to shrink Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine national monuments in 2017, millions of Americans rose up in opposition. Today, in response to this Secretarial

Order, a chorus of business owners, outdoor recreationists, faith leaders, and conservationists from across the country, from Maine to Oregon, are speaking up in defense of these places. The order today poses a threat to all our national public lands, waters, and monuments. In doing so, it erodes the country’s commitment to Tribal sovereignty, permanent outdoor access, protected water and wildlife, and thriving rural economies. 

SUPPORT OF OUR NATIONAL MONUMENTS 

Veterans 

Janessa Goldbeck, military veteran & CEO, Vet Voice Foundation, said, The Antiquities Act is one of America’s most important tools for preserving our history, culture, and natural heritage. For over a century, presidents from both parties have used this law to protect iconic places like the Grand Canyon and the Statue of Liberty, ensuring that these treasures remain accessible to all Americans. 

National monuments strengthen our communities and bolster local economies. These designations create jobs, support small businesses, and provide low-cost recreational opportunities for families, hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts. For veterans and military families, these lands offer places to reconnect and find peace. 

Efforts to undermine the Antiquities Act threaten our ability to preserve these critical sites and ignore the widespread, bipartisan support for protecting America’s public lands. As a veteran, I understand how much these places mean to those who have served. We must remain steadfast in ensuring these lands are protected for future generations to enjoy and benefit from.” 

Juan Roberto Madrid, Navy veteran and Colorado Clean Transportation & Energy Policy Advocate, Green Latinos, said: “As a Latino veteran who served 22 years and saw multiple combat deployments, including to the First Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan wars, I've experienced firsthand the profound impact that nature has on physical and mental well-being. After years of service, the quiet solitude of a national park, the vastness of a desert landscape such as Castner Range National Monument, the high plains desert landscape of Bears Ears National Monument or the tranquility of a coastal trail such as those at Cabrillo National Monument, offered me and fellow veterans a sanctuary for healing. The challenges faced by veterans – PTSD, anxiety, depression – are often deeply intertwined with the stresses of combat and the difficulties of reintegration. Access to open spaces provides a vital lifeline. Protecting and expanding access to our public lands and national monuments is not just about conservation and preserving natural beauty; it's about investing in the health and well-being of our veterans. These spaces are essential resources for healing, recovery, and a renewed sense of purpose.” 

Nancy Kramer, President, 10th Mountain Foundation, said: “Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument – which encompasses the last World War II training camp fully open to the public – was expressly created to honor veterans and the enormous positive influence they had throughout our nation. Any disruption to this place is a dishonor to that military history, as well as a disruption of our country's growing outdoor recreation industry, which constitutes 2.3% of the U.S. GDP and contributes over 5 million jobs. Put simply, attacking Camp Hale by revoking its monument designation would diminish our country’s ability to work toward a diverse economy. The revocation would be enormously unpatriotic.” 

Businesses 

Carrie Hamblen, State Senator & CEO/President, Las Cruces Green Chamber of Commerce said, New Mexico’s Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument is good for business. Since the national monument was designated in 2014, it has drawn-in more than $234 million in cumulative economic impact, tripled in visitation, and supported 305 jobs. That’s one of the many reasons the City of Las Cruces and Doña Ana County have been so supportive of the monument from day one. Any attacks on this monument, and others nationwide, ignore the local governments, the local voices and businesses, and the community who want to see these places protected.” 

Gail Fanjoy, President, Katahdin Chamber of Commerce said, As a fourth-generation citizen of Millinocket, Maine, I am deeply committed to the revitalization of my community and other Katahdin Region communities. I have served multiple terms on the Town Council, public service work that lets me witness firsthand the benefits national monuments bring to our rural communities, both throughout Maine and the country. As a retired CEO and civic leader, I helped lead

the way to establish the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. This place helps support our surrounding communities' public and economic health, attracting visitors from around the world and enshrining locals’ access to nature. I fought to permanently establish Katahdin Woods and Waters for myself, my family, and my neighbors. Any precedent to abolish national monuments strikes at the very heart of Millinocket and surrounding towns like it whose 

homegrown businesses rely on permanent access to these remarkable landscapes.” 

Nick Streit, Business owner, Director of Friends of Rio Grande del Norte National Monument said, Getting into the family business at an early age (my dad literally wrote the book on Fly Fishing New Mexico), I’ve been guiding fisherman since before I was old enough to drive them to the river. Twenty years ago, my wife and I started the Taos Fly Shop, which grew from its humble beginnings to become one of the state's premier fly shops. As a small business founder, I cannot stress enough the value of permanently protected public land such as the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. Without safeguarded public access to the river, our livelihood- and in fact our entire way of life would be in jeopardy. If national monuments are abolished, businesses like mine could disappear and the rural economies that depend on them will suffer.” 

Spiritual Leaders 

Reverend Andrew Black, Sportsman and Presbyterian Minister, First Presbyterian Church of Santa Fe, “As a sportsman and father, the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument is where my daughter and I enjoy fishing, hiking and viewing incredible wildlife. This monument came together and was designated after years of support and community collaboration between hunters, anglers, cattle permittees, veterans, local elected officials, business owners and wildlife organizations. As one who deeply cherishes America’s rich sporting heritage, protecting national monuments is as much about protecting critical wildlife habitat, cultural, historical, and sacred sites as it is about protecting a way of life we can pass down to future generations.” 

Joseph Brophy Toledo, Member of Jemez Pueblo & Tribal Spiritual Advisor, EarthKeepers 360 said, National monuments can help protect our culture and sacred lands. It's important we continue to preserve wildlife habitat protected by our national monuments and be strong in speaking up for the four-legged, finned, winged and micro-invertebrates.” 

Sportsmen 

David Lien, Board member, Colorado Backcountry Hunters and Anglers said, Growing up in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, I started hunting grouse at 11. At 13, I killed my first deer with a Ruger .44 Magnum rifle handed down to me by my grandfather. I come from a muti-generational family of hunters and military veterans, and as such, I understand the immense, incomparable value of protected public land. Thankfully, Colorado is rich in such places, from the Colorado National Monument on the Western Slope to the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument nestled in the high Rockies. In addition to safeguarding bird and big-game habitat, these places ensure stories like those of my family will continue to be told for generations. An attack on one monument is an attack on all. Diminishing any of these places speaks to a fundamental disregard for the hunters, anglers, and military veterans of this great country.” 

Mark Mattaini, Board member, New Mexico Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, said, From my New Mexico home in Paguate Village, Laguna Pueblo, I am surrounded by the stunning ancestral lands of the Pueblo people. From the highlands of Mount Taylor (my most common hunting site), to the volcanic diversity of El Malpais National Monument, I can visit and explore protected public land in all directions. A fisherman from birth, and an active one still, I also have rich opportunities for hunting upland birds, waterfowl, and wild turkey, as well as occasional big game. Hunting and fishing experiences like the ones I so treasure are only possible in deeply interconnected landscapes. New Mexico, from the Río Grande del Norte National Monument on the North to the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument on the South, is particularly rich for sportspersons. National monuments—like those found throughout New Mexico—play an essential role in protecting wildlife corridors, enshrining traditional ways of life, and hunting opportunities. Attacking any one monument threatens the whole system of interconnected lands and habitat.” 

Dean Finnerty, Staffer, Trout Unlimited, said, For over 20 years, I balanced my work as a fishing and hunting guide while also working as a law enforcement officer. I’ve caught pretty much every kind of fish in every Oregon stream worth fishing, including the clear, cold waters within the incomparable Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. Without permanently safeguarded places like this monument, our communities’ public and economic health would suffer. These

boundaries are meant to last in perpetuity, so I, my family, my neighbors and everyone who visits this place can depend on the habitat and refuge it offers.” 

Russel Kuhlman, Executive Director, Nevada Wildlife Federation, said, When Theodore Roosevelt first used the Antiquities Act in 1906, he knew that the threats to public lands move faster than Congress. Every national monument designated in Nevada was done by bringing together all stakeholders and having strong grassroots campaigns led by the local community. Relying on Congress to move faster than the threats Nevadans are seeing on public lands is not the pathway to ensure future generations experience our natural and cultural resources. That is why 85 percent of Western voters support creating new national parks, national monuments, wildlife refuges and Tribal protected areas to protect historic sites or areas for outdoor recreation.” 

Jesse Deubel, Executive Director, New Mexico Wildlife Federation, said, The New Mexico Wildlife Federation has been advocating for hunters and anglers since 1914. As our state’s oldest and largest sporting advocacy organization, we know that the greatest threat to the future of hunting is the loss of access to wild habitat that supports robust populations of wildlife. National monument designations have proven to be an exceptional tool to protect these landscape-scale habitats for the benefit of hunters and other outdoor recreation enthusiasts who rely on public lands. Some of the most coveted hunting opportunities in New Mexico exist because of our national monuments. Monuments are truly for all people. The idea of shrinking or eliminating them is a tremendous disservice to the American people and a significant threat to the future of hunting.” 

Alex Trimble Young, Board member, Arizona Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and Winner of the Arizona Wildlife Federation's 2024 Aldo Leopold Award for Citizen Advocacy, said,In a time of seemingly ever-intensifying political polarization in the United States, Americans' attitudes toward public lands remain one issue where we still see an overwhelming and bipartisan consensus of voters. Americans believe in robust protections for our public lands, period. The recent designation of Chuckwalla and Sáttítla Highlands National Monuments showed us this powerful coalition in action, bringing together our Indigenous nations, environmentalists, and outdoor recreationalists ranging from hikers to hunters to bring much needed protections, and expanding access, to the irreplaceable ecology and ancient cultural sites of these remarkable places. 

Unfortunately, an increasingly powerful group of Washington politicians voting to serve their campaigns' bank accounts not their voters' interests is threatening not only these monuments, but the very legislation - The Antiquities Act, signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt - that makes the future protection of similar monuments possible. It's time for everyday Americans of all stripes who love our wild places to stand up and say no to the greedy politicians and the corporate 

interests driving the land transfer agenda.” 

Organization Leads & Local Advocates 

Tim Peterson, Cultural Landscapes Director, Grand Canyon Trust said, “February 3rd’s Secretarial Order to stage an under-the-radar review of national monument designations is deeply unpopular in Utah where nearly two-thirds of Utah voters polled recently favor keeping their national monuments as they are. 89% of those Utah voters also said 

that Tribes should have a say over how their ancestral lands that are now called public lands are managed. The incoming administration should respect Tribes by keeping the historic collaborative management agreement in place and leaving Bears Ears National Monument, and all our national monuments, alone.” 

Kim Garrison Means, Friends of Avi Kwa Ame, said, I grew up inside the boundaries of what is now Avi Kwa Ame National Monument. My grandparents moved here, to a 60-acre plot outside of Searchlight, Nevada, in the 1960s. My grandfather taught me the names of the incredible array of plants, animals, rocks and stars -- knowledge that was instilled in me as part of my experience of the world. We have all kinds of neighbors, and we learned to treat one another with respect. This national monument exists today, in part, because of my small town’s commitment to this principle. We decided to pursue monument status to protect the landscape we hold dear — as a community decision, not a political one. It involved reaching out to EVERYONE in our community. We came together for years of discussion and public meetings in Searchlight, and had many more with our rural, tribal and urban neighbors. Avi Kwa Ame National Monument is something our community takes pride in having achieved together, and any revocation of these boundaries now would be a direct affront to those living-room conversations and our local decision-making and autonomy.”

Patrick Nolan, Executive Director, Friends of Rio Grande del Norte, said, Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument is a prime example of the overwhelmingly positive impact protected lands can have on a community. From the economic impacts alone, $25 million annually, to the increased outdoor recreation opportunities that protection created, protecting public lands is always a good idea. We also have seen how this monument has helped us develop and foster a stronger community that comes together around the shared love for our surrounding mountains and land. It's through protection that we can honor the history of this land and preserve that legacy for generations to come. Our monument has transformed our community and will continue to do so far into the future.” 

Daniel Collay, Executive Director, Friends of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, said, I grew up in Oregon and have dedicated my life to working in the outdoors. My passion for plants, wildlife, and conservation drives everything I do, and I’m grateful to share it with visitors from around the globe, as well as with locals and people of all ages, including young learners, who come to experience the 114,000-acre Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. Together, we believe in protecting this monument so that future generations can continue to cherish and protect it. 

Straddling the Oregon-California border, Cascade-Siskiyou is an ecological gem, home to an extraordinary diversity of plants and animals. Its rich mosaic of forests, woodlands, grasslands, wet meadows, and interior desert makes it an unparalleled haven for wildlife. On any given hike, you might spot one of the 300+ species of birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians that rely on this monument’s ecological integrity to thrive.” 

Carmichael Dominguez, Former City Councilor, Santa Fe & Hispanic Community Organizer, EarthKeepers 360, “As a former City Councilor in Santa Fe, I represented the youngest, poorest, and only majority/minority district in the City. I understood the vital role public lands play in these populations' quality of life. National monuments are crucial as they reflect the changing values of American society and provide a mechanism for preserving public lands for vulnerable populations. The Antiquities Act of 1906, which allows the president to designate national monuments, has been a cornerstone of federal preservation and can be an important tool to elevate the quality of life for people in general.” 

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About GreenLatinos

GreenLatinos (NOTE: GreenLatinos is ONE WORD) is an active comunidad of Latino/a/e leaders, emboldened by the power and wisdom of our culture, united to demand equity and dismantle racism, resourced to win our environmental, conservation, and climate justice battles, and driven to secure our political, economic, cultural, and environmental liberation.


GreenLatinos (NOTA: GreenLatinos es UNA PALABRA) es una comunidad activa de líderes latinos/a/e, envalentonados por el poder y la sabiduría de nuestra cultura, unidos para exigir equidad y desmantelar el racismo, con recursos para ganar nuestra justicia ambiental, batallas de conservación, climáticas e impulsados a asegurar nuestra liberación política, económica, cultural y ambiental.

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