President Joe Biden has restored protections for several national monuments that had been reduced during President Donald Trump’s tenure.
In 2017, Trump’s administration diminished the size of Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts national monuments to facilitate coal mining, oil and gas drilling and commercial fishing, the Associated Press reported.
Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments, both located in southern Utah, will be restored to 1.36 million acres and 1.87 million acres respectively, NPR reported.
President Barack Obama established the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in 2016, off the New England coast, making it the first marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean.
Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo stated in an Oct. 7 Department of the Interior press release, “Fully restoring the protections for the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument underscores the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to conservation. The rich diversity of species in the monument include rare and endangered marine life—from deep-sea corals and fish, to whales and sea turtles—that continue to be threatened by the climate crisis. With this proclamation we acknowledge the importance of protecting their ongoing contributions to scientific knowledge, ecosystem health and the sustainability of our planet.”
Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said, “On my visit to Utah, I had the distinct honor to speak with many people who care deeply about this land. The historical connection between Indigenous peoples and Bears Ears is undeniable; our Native American ancestors sustained themselves on the landscape since time immemorial and evidence of their rich lives is everywhere one looks.”
The monument needs to be protected for all Americans to learn and relish in the area’s history, she added.
