Six California National Monuments At Risk Under Trump Executive Order

WASHINGTON, DC — The Interior Department has identified 27 national monuments for review, which could potentially curtail protections to the monuments or lead to them no longer being national monuments, in accordance with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in April. Six of the monuments are in California.

The monuments under review include 22 land monuments and five marine preserves in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Most of the land monuments are in the western United States, including the states of California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Washington and New Mexico.

The California monuments identified for review are:

• Berryessa Snow Mountain
• Carrizo Plain
• Giant Sequoia
• Mojave Trails
• San Gabriel Mountains
• Sand to Snow

Under the Antiquities Act of 1906, presidents can designate federal lands and waters as national monuments, limiting their use. In signing the order, Trump said the protections put in place by his predecessors amounted to “a massive federal land grab” that “should never have happened,” the Associated Press reports.

"Monument designations that result from a lack of public outreach and proper coordination with State, tribal, and local officials and other relevant stakeholders may also create barriers to achieving energy independence, restrict public access to and use of Federal lands, burden State, tribal, and local governments, and otherwise curtail economic growth," the executive order states. "Designations should be made in accordance with the requirements and original objectives of the Act and appropriately balance the protection of landmarks, structures, and objects against the appropriate use of Federal lands and the effects on surrounding lands and communities."

Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke said there will be a comment period for members of the public to weigh in on the designations. A notice will be published in the Federal Register, following which any comment relating to the Bears Ears National Monument must be submitted within 15 days and comment on any other monuments must be made within 60 days.

The other 21 monuments identified for review are:

• Basin and Range, Nevada
• Bears Ears, Utah
• Canyons of the Ancients, Colorado
• Cascade Siskiyou, Oregon
• Craters of the Moon, Idaho
• Gold Butte, Nevada
• Grand Canyon-Parashant, Arizona
• Grand Staircase-Escalante, Utah
• Hanford Reach, Washington
• Ironwood Forest, Arizona
• Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, New Mexico
• Rio Grande del Norte, New Mexico
• Sonoran Desert, Arizona
• Upper Missouri River Breaks, Montana
• Vermilion Cliffs, Arizona
• Katahadin Woods and Waters, Maine
• Marianas Trench, CNMI/Pacific Ocean
• Northeast Canyons and Seamounts, Atlantic Ocean
• Pacific Remote Islands, Pacific Ocean
• Papahanaumokuakea, Hawaii/Pacific Ocean
• Rose Atoll, American Samoa/Pacific Ocean

Image via David McNew / Getty Images News / Getty Images / Feroze Dhanoa contributed to this story.