Trump Dishonors America’s Democracy and Antiquities Act

Brian Sybert

|June 05, 2020

President Trump’s actions today to eliminate protections for the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument is another illustration of his utter contempt for America’s values, laws, ideals, histories, and natural spaces.

Our national monuments and public lands and waters are beacons of democracy and equity and it’s enraging to see the President use the current national crises to continue his assault on America’s communities and our environment.

The president is willfully ignoring that Americans are in pain. More than 100,000 have died from a virus that is not contained. More than 40 million are unemployed, with many still waiting for economic assistance. At the same time, we’re in the midst of a national crisis driven by police brutality and systemic racism in America.

Today is World Environment Day and next Monday marks the 114th anniversary of the Antiquities Act when Theodore Roosevelt used the Act in 1906 to establish Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. Since then, the Act has been used to protect many important natural, cultural and historical places.

The president’s callousness to the critical issues gripping our nation dishonors American citizens and civil society. Where will his obsession with dividing Americans and dismantling our Democracy end?

He’s already trying to remove protections for Bears Ears National Monument vital to Indigenous cultures, and for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, critical for paleontological and cultural resources. Which national landmark or irreplaceable landscape is next?

An attack on one monument is an attack on all and today the President is making his contempt for America’s national treasures clear yet again. We will continue to hold him and his administration accountable.