Letter to President Donald Trump - Release National Monuments Report to Public

Letter

Dear President Trump:

We are writing to ask that you release the report that was submitted to the White House on August 24, 2017. This report included Secretary Zinke's findings and proposed recommendations for executive or legislative actions on national monuments designations and expansions that were under review as a result of Executive Order 13792.

More than 2.7 million Americans wrote in overwhelming numbers to the Department of the Interior expressing their support for maintaining and protecting our public lands. They deserve to know the fate of some of our nation's most cherished national monuments, like the Carrizo Plain and Giant Sequoia National Monuments in California.

The Antiquities Act of 1906 authorizes the establishment of national monuments to protect our public lands. Since then, 16 Presidents--both Democratic and Republican--have designated a total of 157 national monuments across the country. Our nation's public lands are a treasured aspect of our outdoor heritage and archaeological history, and an essential asset to our local outdoor and tourism economies.

In the United States, the outdoor economy generates $887 billion in consumer spending annually, which goes on to support 7.6 million jobs, $65.3 billion in federal tax revenue and $59.2 billion in local and state revenue. The 7.6 million hard-working Americans whose jobs depend on outdoor recreation spurred by our public lands deserve to know the fate of our national monuments and their designations. By not releasing this report, the millions of Americans whose economic livelihood is tied to these public lands will continue to needlessly be in limbo.

Any decision about public lands demands transparency, not secrecy. We respectfully ask you to release the report and bring certainty to the American public.

Sincerely,

Members of Congress