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Monumental Moves Down Through The Decades

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No national monument in the United States has ever been abolished by a president, though through the decades some have lost their status through acts of Congress. And While Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has said his review of 27 national monuments won't lead to any abolishment recommendations, there are concerns for the fate of the Antiquities Act that gives presidents the authority to designate national monuments.

Here's a glance at the current review of monuments, and some history pertaining to national monuments:

  • Secretary Zinke this week is expected to forward his recommendations on the status of 27 national monuments to President Trump. So far, he's recommended that no changes be made to Sand to Snow National Monument in California; Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in Idaho; Hanford Reach National Monument in Washington state; the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument in Arizona; the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument in Montana, and; Canyons of the Ancients in Colorado.
  • The secretary hasn't indicated what changes he might suggest be made in the Antiquities Act, although U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, an outspoken critic of the act, has scheduled a press conference for Thursday morning to discuss both Secretary Zinke's recommendations and the act.
  • In March 2014, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a measure that would gut the Antiquities Act that numerous presidents have used to set aside lands for the good of the country. With a vote of 222-201, the House passed H.R. 1459, which would overhaul the authority presidents have to set aside national monuments. The bill never gained full congressional passage.
  • There has been debate by legal pundits as to how much authority President Trump can wield to alter either national monuments or the Antiquities Act, though the general belief is that Congress would have to act on any changes the president would want.
  • President Eisenhower reduced the reservation for Great Sand Dunes National Monument by 25 percent. (He reduced the original 35,528-acre monument by a net 8,920 acres.)
  • President Truman diminished the reservation for Santa Rosa Island National Monument by almost half. (The original 9,500-acre reservation by Franklin Roosevelt was diminished by 4,700 acres.) 
  • Presidents Taft, Wilson, and Coolidge collectively reduced the reservation for Mount Olympus by almost half, the largest by President Wilson in 1915 (cutting 313,280 acres from the original 639,200-acre monument). 
  • The largest percentage reduction was by President Taft in 1912 to his own prior reservation in 1909 for Navajo National Monument. (His elimination of 320 acres from the original 360-acre reservation was an 89 percent reduction.)
  • The National The Park Service acquired South Carolina’s Castle Pinckney National Monument in 1933, but was glad to see it abolished by Congress and transferred in the 1950s. Lacking a glorious past, and too expensive to restore, the old island fort now sits rotting in Charleston harbor.
  • The Father Millet Cross National Monument was abolished in 1949 and handed over to the state of New York.
  • Three of the 15 national monuments transferred from the Forest Service to the National Park Service in 1933 (Executive Order 6166, June 10, 1933) - Holy Cross (CO), Old Kassan (AK) and Wheeler (CO) – were later abolished. The monuments were abolished by Congress in 1950, 1955, and 1950 respectively, and the lands encompassed in them reverted to Forest Service administration.
  • Meriwether Lewis National Monument became part of Natchez Trace National Parkway. Congress renamed Fort Marion "Castillo de San Marcos National Monument" in 1942.
  • Over time, Congress abolished 49 national monuments by incorporating their land into national parks, national historical parks, national preserves or other units. The count includes the 13 monuments declared by Jimmy Carter in 1978 in Alaska. 
  • The two Forest Service-administered Cinder Cone and Lassen Peak national monuments were transferred to the NPS when Congress incorporated the monuments' lands into Lassen Volcanic National Park in 1916.
  • Congress abolished the 1916 Sieur de Monts National Monument and incorporated it into the Lafayette National Park in 1919, later renamed Acadia National Park.
  • The Forest Service-administered Grand Canyon National Monument was incorporated into the Grand Canyon National Park in 1919.
  • The Forest Service-administered Munkutuweap National Monument was abolished and renamed Zion National Monument and transferred to the NPS in 1918; Congress incorporated the monument into Zion National Park in 1919.
  • The Forest Service-administered Bryce Canyon National Monument was incorporated into Bryce Canyon National Park in 1928.
  • Congress abolished the 1923 Carlsbad Caverns National Monument and incorporated it into the Carlsbad Caverns National Park in 1930.
  • Congress transferred the Forest Service-administered Mount Olympus National Monument to the NPS, abolished it, and incorporated it as part of Olympic National Park in 1938.
  • Congress abolished the 1943 Jackson Hole National Monument and incorporated it into Grand Teton National Park in 1950.
  • Congress abolished the 1938 Fort Laramie National Monument and incorporated it into Fort Laramie National Historic Site in 1960.
  • Congress abolished the 1906 Petrified Forest National Monument and incorporated it into Petrified Forest National Park in 1962.
  • Congress abolished the 1929 Badlands National Monument and incorporated it into Badlands National Park in 1968.
  • Congress abolished the 1929 Arches National Monument and incorporated it into Arches National Park in 1971.
  • Congress abolished the 1937 Capitol Reef National Monument and incorporated it into Capitol Reef National Park in 1971.
  • Congress abolished 1961 Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Monument and incorporated it into C&O Canal National Historical Park in 1971.
  • Proclaimed in 1939, the Santa Rosa Island National Monument in Florida was abolished by Congress in 1946. These lands are now part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, established by Congress in 1972.
  • Congress abolished the 1932 Grand Canyon National Monument and 1969 Marble Canyon National Monument by incorporating these two into an expanded Grand Canyon National Park in 1975
  • Congress abolished the 1918 Katmai National Monument and incorporated it into Katmai National Park in 1980 (ANILCA).
  • Congress abolished the 1925 Glacier Bay National Monument and incorporated it into Glacier Bay National Park in 1980 (ANILCA)
  • Congress abolished 13 of the 13 national monuments proclaimed by President Jimmy Carter in Alaska in 1978 and established these areas as national parks, preserves, or monuments by congressional charter in 1980 (ANILCA). These are: Bering Land Bridge, Denali, Gates of the Arctic, Glacier Bay, Katmai, Kenai Fjords, Kobuk Valley, Lake Clark, Noatak, Wrangell-St. Elias, Yukon-Charley. Congress repealed the proclamations but kept the “national monument” title for Aniakchak and Cape Krusenstern.
  • Congress abolished the 1938 Channel Islands National Monument and incorporated it into Channel Islands National Park in 1980.
  • Congress abolished the 1968 Biscayne National Monument and incorporated it into the Biscayne National Park in 1980. 
  • Congress abolished the 1907 Chaco Canyon National Monument and incorporated it into Chaco Culture National Historical Park in 1980.
  • Congress abolished the 1922 Lehman Caves National Monument and incorporated it into Great Basin National Park in 1986.
  • Congress abolished the 1907 Gran Quivira National Monument and incorporated it into the congressionally-designated Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument in 1988.
  • Congress abolished the 1976 Congaree Swamp National Monument and incorporated it into the Congaree Swamp National Park in 1988. 
  • Congress abolished the 1965 Pecos National Monument and incorporated it into Pecos National Historical Park in 1990. 
  • Congress abolished the 1908 Tumacacori National Monument (administered by DOI – General Land Office) and transferred to NPS (unknown date) when it created Tumacacori National Historical Park in 1990.
  • Congress abolished the 1935 Fort Jefferson National Monument and incorporated it into Dry Tortugas National Park in 1992.
  • Congress abolished the 1933 Saguaro National Monument and incorporated it into Saguaro National Park in 1994.
  • Congress abolished the 1933 Death Valley National Monument and incorporated it into Death Valley National Park in 1994.
  • Congress abolished the 1936 Joshua Tree National Monument and incorporated it into the Joshua Tree National Park in 1994.
  • Congress abolished the 1933 Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument and incorporated it into the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in 1999.
  • Congress abolished the 1932 Great Sand Dunes National Monument and incorporated it into Great Sand Dunes National Park in 2000.
  • Congress renamed the 2002 addition of 410,000 acres to Craters of the Moon National Monument as Craters of the Moon National Preserve in 2002. No net gain or loss of number of units that are NPS “national monuments” because the original Craters of the Moon National Monument (proclaimed 1924) remained untouched.
  • Congress abolished the 2001 Minidoka Internment National Monument and converted it to Minidoka National Historic Site in 2008.
  • Congress abolished the 1908 Pinnacles National Monument and designated it a national park in 2013.
  • Shoshone Cavern National Monument was abolished by Congress in 1954.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt transferred 15 national monuments, all created by presidential proclamation, from the Forest Service to the NPS in 1933. Three were later abolished. The transferred national forest monuments are:

  • Chiricahua (AZ)
  • Devils Post Pile (CA)
  • Gila Cliff Dwellings (NM)
  • Jewel Cave( SD)
  • Lava Beds (CA)
  • Lehman Caves (NV)
  • Oregon Caves (OR)
  • Saguaro (AZ)
  • Sunset Crater (AZ)
  • Timpanogos Cave (UT)
  • Tonto (AZ)
  • Walnut Canyon (AZ)

In January 2013, Congress converted Pinnacles National Monument into a national park.

Comments

Mr Zinke is determined to put a stake through the heart of the Antiquities Act and there is no one to stop him. Our parks and public lands are for sale to the highest bidder. All of the letter writing and fund raising campaigns by the NPCA, the Park Foundation and other support groups will not make any difference, the purpose of our parks is to make money for American business, Conservation and Historic Preservation values do not count for anything. Capitalis, now rules.


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