Camp Nelson in Kentucky became the 418th unit of the National Park System/NPS

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke applauded President Trump's designation of Camp Nelson in Kentucky as a national monument and immediately drew criticism for the administration's move to scale down the size of two national monuments in Utah.

The secretary, who announced the designation of Camp Nelson National Monument from his Washington office, was accused of being hypocritical for recognizing Camp Nelson's role during the Civil War as an emancipation site and refugee camp for African Americans while ignoring calls by Native Americans to preserve Bears Ears National Monument, which they hold sacred, as President Obama had designated it.

"We wholeheartedly support designating national monuments that honor the fight for equality and justice such as Camp Nelson," said Dan Hartinger, The Wilderness Society's deputy director for parks and public lands defense. "However, all national monuments that recognize our diverse history must be protected and honored – including Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, where a coalition of sovereign tribal nations proposed and advocated for the monument.  Honoring Camp Nelson’s role in advancing equality while simultaneously working to strip protections from Bears Ears is disrespectful and hypocritical."

Also critical of the Trump administration was the National Parks Conservation Association, where President and CEO Theresa Pierno found some irony in the president's designation of Camp Nelson.

“We must preserve African American history in our national parks and protected public lands. And the Antiquities Act is a critical tool to continue to preserve special places that define who we are as a nation and that better reflect our diverse and evolving population," she said. "It is ironic that this administration would use the same law to protect this site after arbitrarily gutting protections for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.

"NPCA is among the many tribal, environmental and business allies challenging the administration’s actions in court, hoping to return permanent protections for these places that preserve our history and protect our irreplaceable natural and cultural lands.

Located in Jessamine County, Kentucky, Camp Nelson was one of the largest Union Army recruitment and training centers in the nation for African American soldiers, then known as U.S. Colored Troops. Thousands of enslaved African Americans risked their lives escaping to Camp Nelson with the hope of securing their freedom and controlling their own futures during and after the war.

Today, the site remains one of the best-preserved landscapes and archaeological sites associated with Civil War-era U.S. Colored Troops recruitment camps and the African American refugee experience. Camp Nelson will now be the 418th site that the National Park Service oversees.

“Camp Nelson, and all the patriots who have ties to it, holds an incredible place in America's history, and President Trump's action to designate Camp Nelson as a National Monument will ensure the ongoing protection of the site and the story,” Secretary Zinke said. “America's parks, battlefields and monuments tell the story of who we are as Americans. Camp Nelson was instrumental as a refuge for escaped and emancipated slaves. The camp tells the story about Americans who risked absolutely everything they have and everyone they love to fight for their freedom, the cause of liberty and to preserve the Union.

"I thank the President for using the Antiquities Act as it was truly intended and I can think of no better place for his use of the Act than to recognize African Americans for the sacrifices they made for this country and for the contributions they made for all Americans freedom than by elevating Camp Nelson to National Monument status," he added. 

Camp Nelson is the first national monument designation under President Trump. The designation was made with congressional and public input and involved extensive consultation with nearby private landowners, Interior staff said.

To provide a seamless transition from county to federal ownership and management, Jessamine County and the National Park Service have entered into an agreement to provide a cooperative framework for the protection, preservation, promotion, interpretation, and maintenance of the monument. During the transition, Jessamine County will provide continued assistance with operation and maintenance for an initial period.

President Trump designated the National Monument under the Antiquities Act, which gives the President the authority to “declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated on land owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be national monuments.”