11 National Monuments That Trump Is Threatening

Bears Ears National Monument got its adorable name because of a pair of geological formations that look like, well, a bear's ears — but even with all of that adorableness, this national monument is the one most mired in controversy. It's extremely remote, and five local Native American tribes spent years lobbying for it to be officially protected because of the archaeological sites and tribal artifacts that are included within it.

However, it's also in a very poor area of Utah, and it's near where an oil company is looking to drill. Conservatives say that giving it protected status was unfair to those who could benefit from that potential development. When they say anything about "land grabs," though, which they have, just remember that it was federally-owned land to begin with. Bears Ears is the first monument that Zinke will review, and if indeed he does decide that it needs to be shrunk, the Native American groups who fought for it in the beginning will be there to rehash that fight again.

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, also in Utah, has been another source of anger since President Clinton designated it as such in 1996. Clinton could have been a bit more transparent about the process; he didn't tell Utah's congressional representatives that he was creating it until it was already done — and there just so happened to be a vein of coal there. There's speculation that the whole executive order is just meant to go after these two monuments — but these would be a lot to lose. Grand Staircase is home to an astounding range of geological features, and it would be incredibly short-sighted to destroy any of them just in the pursuit of some coal.

The Grand Canyon needs no introduction — and not even the Trump administration is self-destructive enough to threaten one of the country's most visited tourist destinations. However, bordering the Grand Canyon National Park is the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, and its scenery is hardly less gorgeous than its more famous neighbor's.

This national monument east of the Philippines protects some of the world's most understudied ecosystems — those at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest point in the ocean. Much of the area covered has actually never been seen by the human eye, and every trip down to study the ecosystems at the bottom of the ocean leads to new discoveries about the forms that life can take. If you're interested in, for example, finding life that exists in extreme situations elsewhere in the solar system, then this is exactly the sort of place on earth that you want to protect and learn from.

The Giant Sequoia National Monument doesn't get as much airtime as its cousin the Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, but it still has some pretty impressive sequoia groves, and you can discover them on a hike with your favorite four-legged friend (which you can't do at a national park). The sequoia is also the world's largest tree, and it only grows in a specific area of California — so there's that.

The name might sound like the title of the next National Treasure movie, but it's a real thing. The land protected as a national monument contains over 6,000 ancient archaeological sites, and they estimate that there are many more to be found. Research into the area around the monument also indicates that its presence has been been good for the local economy — a study that hopefully Secretary Zinke won't ignore.

Thanks to its remote location in the South Pacific and inability to support human development, Rose Atoll Marine National Monument has an astounding amount of biological diversity. Endangered turtles, dozens of species of coral and fish, and numerous protected seabird species all call the two small islands and the surrounding sea home.

There isn't any one attraction in particular that would draw you to the Sonoran Desert National Monument — but that's kind of the point. The whole thing was designed to protect the archaeological sites, desert ecosystems, and rare flora and fauna that you can find within the monument's borders.

Talk about diverse environments — Sand to Snow has been called "the most botanically diverse national monument in America," so unsurprisingly, there's a lot to see there. The area includes a desert, mountains, and a wetland, in addition to plenty of fascinating geological features like the Red Dome. Obama only created Sand to Snow in 2016, but it's already gained quite a following — for good reason.

Gold Butte National Monument, one of the last things that Obama did in 2016, is notable for all of the petroglyphs there, plus its more natural features like wildlife and geological elements. However, this one is another that could be in particular danger, because some locals are worried that its new designation could make it less accessible.

Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument is the largest protected area in America, and one of the largest in the world. The area it covers is more than all of the country's national parks combined. Its coral reefs are home to over 7,000 marine species, many of them endangered or not found anywhere else in the world. It's also an important place for Hawaiian cultural heritage, and part of it is designated on the UNESCO World Heritage list — which is a very good thing, because it grants the area an extra level of protection.

These are less than half of the parks that the Trump administration is putting under the review of a man who is known to favor the interests of fossil fuel companies over the rights of people to have access to this natural beauty — or, for that matter, the rights of the animals and plants there to live unbothered.

The presidents who designated these national monuments didn't do so frivolously or without reason. This is something that the Trump administration seems to have trouble grasping, but when deciding how to go forward with this, they could do well to think in terms of long-term importance to the world instead of short-term, short-lived, economy-oriented gains.