The president designated large landscapes as well as places significant to landmark social movements, highlighting ‘under-told parts of American history’

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

This week, Barack Obama added two more regions to the US’s collection of national monuments, in a final push to protect the country’s historic and natural landscapes before he leaves office. Obama has used the law more than any previous president since the Antiquities Act was enacted in 1906.

Barack Obama designates two national monuments in west despite opposition Read more

“It’s really been a phenomenal legacy that this president has left behind both in terms of protecting special places and in terms of telling a great story here in America,” Athan Manuel, the director of the lands protection program at the Sierra Club, told the Guardian.

Manuel said Obama had done this by designating large landscapes as well as places significant to landmark social movements, including labor activist Cesar Chavez’s home; the Stonewall Inn, where a 1969 police raid kicked off a new front in the LGBT equality movement; and a park dedicated to the work of Harriet Tubman, a former slave who helped other slaves escape to freedom on the Underground Railroad.

“This president has used the Antiquities Act to highlight under-told parts of American history,” Manuel said.

National monuments designated by Obama 1. Honouliuli Internment Camp. 2. San Juan Islands. 3. Berryessa Snow Mountain. 4. Fort Ord. 5. Cesar E. Chavez. 6. San Gabriel Mountains. 7. Sand to Snow. 8. Mojave Trails. 9. Basin and Range. 10. Tule Springs Fossil Beds, 11. Castle Mountains. 12. Gold Butte. 13. Bears Ears Buttes. 14. Chimney Rock. 15. Prehistoric Trackways. 16. Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks. 17. Browns Canyon. 18. Rio Grande del Norte. 19. Waco Mammoth. 20. Pullman. 21. Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers. 22. Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality. 23. Fort Monroe. 24. Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad. 25. First State. 26. Stonewall. 27. Katahdin Woods and Waters. 28. Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine

Obama has also shown his administration is serious about protecting places sacred to Native Americans like Nevada’s Gold Butte and Utah’s Bears Ears, which were proclaimed national monuments on Wednesday under the Antiquities Act, which allows presidents to protect these lands.

But the Bears Ears designation has proven controversial in Utah, where some lawmakers have criticized the move as a federal land grab.

Utah Republican congressman Jason Chaffetz said on Thursday the move was an “egregious” demonstration of the president’s disregard for the people of Utah and called for more transparency from the White House to show why it designated Bears Ears. The Utah attorney general has threatened to sue over the designation.

But the move was commended by many, including environmental groups and Native American tribes whose ancestors lived in the region.

These tribes will still be allowed to access the land for ceremonies, hunting and recreation, and their representatives will form a first-of-its-kind tribal commission to provide guidance on management plans for Bears Ears.

Obama administration rushes to protect public lands before Trump takes office Read more

“The traditional ecological knowledge amassed by the Native Americans whose ancestors inhabited this region, passed down from generation to generation, offers critical insight into the historic and scientific significance of the area,” the president’s proclamation said. “Such knowledge is, itself, a resource to be protected and used in understanding and managing this landscape sustainably for generations to come.”

Alfred Lomahquahu, vice-chairman of Hopi Tribe, said the coalition was “confident” the collaborative management structure would protect the land.

“Our connection with this land is deeply tied to our identities, traditional knowledge, histories and cultures,” Lomahquahu said in a statement. “We look forward to working with the current and future administrations to fully and properly administer these lands for all to enjoy.”

Those who oppose the Utah designation are hoping the incoming administration will respond to their concerns, though the White House said no president has ever overturned their predecessor’s national monument designation.

More broadly, environmental groups are unsure what the president-elect’s plans are for protecting land. But expectations for Trump’s environmental policy are low – nominees for influential cabinet posts include people who deny climate change and have ties to the fossil fuel industry.

Manuel said: “We survived pretty well under Bush and a Republican Congress 16 years ago, so we’re going to dust off that playbook and push back like we did then.”