In theUnited States, anational monument is aprotected area that can be created from any land owned or controlled by thefederal government byproclamation of thepresident of the United States or an act of Congress. National monuments protect a wide variety of natural and historic resources, including sites of geologic, marine, archaeological, and cultural importance.[1] TheAntiquities Act of 1906 gives presidents the power to proclaim national monuments by executive action. In contrast,national parks in the U.S. must be created by Congressional legislation.[2] Some national monuments were first created by presidential action and later designated as national parks by congressional approval.[1]
The 138 national monuments are managed by several federal agencies: theNational Park Service,United States Forest Service,United States Fish and Wildlife Service, theBureau of Land Management, and theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (in the case of marine national monuments). Historically, some national monuments were managed by theWar Department.[3]
PresidentTheodore Roosevelt used the Antiquities Act to declareDevils Tower inWyoming as the first U.S. national monument.
The Antiquities Act authorized permits for legitimatearchaeological investigations and penalties for taking or destroying antiquities without permission. Additionally, it authorized the president to proclaim "historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest" on federal lands as national monuments, "the limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected."[4]
Presidents have used the Antiquities Act's proclamation authority not only to create new national monuments but to enlarge existing ones. For example, Franklin D. Roosevelt significantly enlargedDinosaur National Monument in 1938.Lyndon B. Johnson addedEllis Island toStatue of Liberty National Monument in 1965, and Jimmy Carter made major additions toGlacier Bay and Katmai National Monuments in 1978.[5]
TheAntiquities Act of 1906 resulted from concerns about protecting mostly prehistoricNative Americanruins and artifacts (collectively termed "antiquities") on federal lands in the American West.
The reference in the act to "objects of ... scientific interest" enabled President Theodore Roosevelt to make a naturalgeological feature,Devils Tower inWyoming, the first national monument three months later.[6] Among the next three monuments he proclaimed in 1906 wasPetrified Forest inArizona, another natural feature. In 1908, Roosevelt used the act to proclaim more than 800,000 acres (3,200 km2) of theGrand Canyon as a national monument.
In response to Roosevelt's declaration of the Grand Canyon monument, a putative mining claimant sued in federal court, claiming that Roosevelt had overstepped the Antiquities Act authority by protecting an entire canyon. In 1920, theUnited States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Grand Canyon was indeed "an object of historic or scientific interest" and could be protected by proclamation, setting a precedent for the use of the Antiquities Act to preserve large areas.[7] Federal courts have since rejected every challenge to the president's use of Antiquities Act preservation authority, ruling that the law gives the president exclusive discretion over the determination of the size and nature of the objects protected.
In 1918, PresidentWoodrow Wilson proclaimedKatmai National Monument inAlaska, comprising more than 1,000,000 acres (4,000 km2). Katmai was later enlarged to nearly 2,800,000 acres (11,000 km2) by subsequent Antiquities Act proclamations and for many years was the largest national park system unit.
Petrified Forest,Grand Canyon, andGreat Sand Dunes, among several othernational parks, were also originally proclaimed as national monuments and later designated national parks by Congress.[8][9][10]
Substantial opposition did not materialize until 1943, when PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt proclaimedJackson Hole National Monument inWyoming. He did this to accept a donation of lands acquired byJohn D. Rockefeller Jr., for addition toGrand Teton National Park after Congress had declined to authorize this park expansion. Roosevelt's proclamation unleashed a storm of criticism about use of the Antiquities Act to circumvent Congress. A bill abolishing Jackson Hole National Monument passed Congress but was vetoed by Roosevelt, and Congressional and court challenges to the proclamation authority were mounted. In 1950, Congress finally incorporated most of the monument into Grand Teton National Park, but the act doing so barred further use of the proclamation authority in Wyoming except for areas of 5,000 acres or less.
The most substantial use of the proclamation authority came in 1978, when PresidentJimmy Carter proclaimed 17 new national monuments in Alaska after Congress had adjourned without passing a major Alaska lands bill. Congress passeda revised version of the bill in 1980 incorporating most of these national monuments into national parks andpreserves, but the act also curtailed further use of the proclamation authority in Alaska.
Carter's 1978 proclamations includedMisty Fjords andAdmiralty Island National Monuments in the U.S. Forest Service andBecharof andYukon Flats National Monuments in theFish and Wildlife Service, the first to be created outside of the National Park Service. The latter two became national wildlife refuges in 1980.
The proclamation authority was not used again anywhere until 1996, when PresidentBill Clinton proclaimed theGrand Staircase–Escalante National Monument inUtah, after many years of unsuccessful advocacy by conservationists to protect parts of the area. This was the first national monument managed by theBureau of Land Management. This action was unpopular in Utah,[11] and bills were introduced to further restrict the president's authority,[12] none of which have been enacted. Most of the 16 national monuments created by President Clinton are managed not by the National Park Service, but by the Bureau of Land Management as part of theNational Landscape Conservation System.
President George W. Bush created four marine national monuments in the Pacific Ocean, the largest in the system:Papahānaumokuākea,Pacific Islands Heritag,Mariana Trench, and theRose Atoll Marine National Monuments.[13] They are managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration overseeing the fisheries. PresidentBarack Obama significantly expanded two of them and added a fifth in the Atlantic Ocean, theNortheast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument.[14]
On June 24, 2016, Obama designated theStonewall Inn and surrounding areas inGreenwich Village, New York as theStonewall National Monument, the first national monument commemoratingthe movement forLGBT rights in the United States.[15] Obama's establishments included several others recognizing civil rights history, including theCésar E. Chávez,Belmont–Paul Women's Equality,Freedom Riders, andBirmingham Civil Rights National Monuments.
In December 2017, President Donald Trump substantially reduced the sizes ofBears Ears andGrand Staircase–Escalante National Monuments, removing protections on about 2.8 million acres of land where mining could resume.[16][17] Three lawsuits challenged the legality of this action in federal court,[18] and in October 2021, President Joe Biden reversed the changes.[19] The restoration of the monuments has been challenged in court in an attempt to attack the Antiquities Act.[20][21]
President Biden's proclamations establishing and expanding monuments often incorporated consultation with Native American tribes for management and planning.[22][23][24]
In 2025, Trump's interior secretary Doug Burgum ordered a review of all withdrawn public lands including national monuments for their exploitation for drilling and mining.[25]
Official announcement from White House Press Office
United States National Monuments travel guide from Wikivoyage
Media related toNational Monuments of the United States at Wikimedia Commons