Valley of the Gods in Bears Ears National Monument (Katherine Frey / The Washington Post).

In an era where oil spills, agriculture, and development are constantly desecrating the natural world, visiting public lands can feel like going back in time. It allows visitors the opportunity to see what the American landscape was like before the industrial revolution, when humanity’s connection with nature degraded as the environment did too.

Of course, it isn’t all about us. These lands provide wildlife with a final frontier where they can live their lives peacefully, mostly free from human interference. It is the least we could do after taking their home, destroying it, and killing their ancestors in the process.

Interestingly enough, when it comes to Donald Trump’s decision on Monday to issue executive orders shrinking Bears Ears National Monument by over 80 percent, and Staircase-Escalante National Monument by almost half, he is also disrespecting Native Americans who suffered that same fate.

These National Monuments are rife with Indigenous culture and history. Numerous tribes have ancient artifacts at these monuments, and many still hold ceremonies there to honor their ancestors and the land they consider sacred. It is also where Native Americans go to get traditional natural resources.

“We survive off that land,” Jonah Yellowman of the Navajo Nation said. “Where I live, we don’t have any trees. Also, we use different kinds of plants and herbs for basket weaving — people survive on that. People use it for hunting.”

Monday’s executive orders open up about 2 million acres of land to potential oil and gas drilling, which is a notorious source of pollution. It will break up wildlife habitats, radically transform the landscape, and put the air and water at risk of being poisoned. Indigenous Americans sustainable impact on the land pales in comparison to the destruction that fossil fuel extraction will cause.

This is just one example of the Trump Administrations full-fledged attack on America’s pristine public lands.

In August, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke completed his review of 27 National Monuments. He recommended that 10 of them be altered to allow for activities such as grazing, logging, mining, and commercial fishing, while four of them (including Bear Ears and Staircase-Escalante) should be shrunk in size. These activities would almost certainly shake-up the ecological balance that currently exists there, and probably drastically so.

Tucked inside of last week’s GOP tax bill was another assault on protected land. A provision of the bill opened up a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling for the first time. While it remains to be seen whether this will be included in the final bill, it is just another action in the Trump Administration’s pattern of protecting fossil fuel interests at the expense of the environment.

Even one of the seven natural wonders of the world is at risk. The Trump Administration has asked for a review of a uranium mining ban in the Grand Canyon watershed. All of these attacks on public lands are extremely threatening to our environment, but if successful, this assault on one of the most breath-taking landscapes in the world would be a symbolic shot in the heart for the American soul.

Photo of Grand Canyon via National Park Foundation

This administration is not just trying to physically attack our public lands, they are also trying to make them harder for us to see.

The National Park Service has proposed more than doubling the price of entrance at 17 National Parks — including some of the most popular such as the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Yosemite. By raising the price, they make it harder for low-income Americans to see our country’s natural beauty. The less people visiting these parks and gaining a personal connection with the land, the easier it becomes to steal them from us.

Most of us live in urban areas separate from the natural world, but luckily we still have the privilege to visit public lands and return to our roots. If the Trump Administration has its way, future generations will be even more deprived of this natural beauty than we are today.

“God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, diseases, avalanches and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools.” -John Muir

Edit: The original photo for this article incorrectly displayed Monument Valley, rather than Bears Ears National Monument.