national monument

Avi Kwa Ame, also known as Spirit Mountain, as seen across the desert from an area near the Castle Mountains in February 2016. President Biden is declaring the area as a national monument.

Politics & Government

Biden is creating new national monuments to protect land in Nevada and Texas

5:50pm March 21, 2023

by Ximena Bustillo

The designation preserves Avi Kwa Ame in Nevada and Castner Range in Texas from new development. President Biden is also starting the process for a vast new marine sanctuary southwest of Hawaii.

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Tourists visit Mount Rushmore National Monument on Wednesday. President Trump is expected to visit the federal monument in South Dakota and give a speech before a fireworks display on Friday.

Mount Rushmore Fireworks Revival To Feature Trump But No Social Distancing

7:07pm July 01, 2020

by David Welna

Environmental dangers, including wildfires and groundwater poisoning, ended the Rushmore pyrotechnics a decade ago. Now they're back, defying a pandemic and protests.

A Canadian mining firm says it will begin exploration work soon on land that was previously part of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah.

National

Firm Prepares To Mine Land Previously Protected As A National Monument

4:21pm June 21, 2018

by Shannon Van Sant

The land used to be within the boundary of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. President Trump slashed the protected acreage by nearly half last year.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. addresses a crowd in Birmingham, Ala., in 1966. President Obama has designated an historic civil rights district in Birmingham as a national monument.

National

Obama Honors Civil Rights Movement With New National Monuments

9:27pm January 12, 2017

by Richard Gonzales

As his administration ends, Obama has protected more historic, cultural and natural sites than any other president before him. The new sites are in South Carolina and in Birmingham and Anniston, Ala.

Rough seas prevented the NOAA's Okeanos Explorer from collecting data in the the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in February.

Protected Marine Area Near Hawaii Is Now Twice The Size Of Texas

12:22pm August 26, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument was created by President George W. Bush. Now President Obama is quadrupling it in size — making it the biggest marine reserve in the world.

For Vernon Lee of the Moapa Band of Paiutes, a national monument designation for Gold Butte would be the next best thing to having the U.S. government return the land to his people.

In Nevada, Tribes Push To Protect Land At The Heart Of Bundy Ranch Standoff

5:51pm August 18, 2016

by Kirk Siegler

National monument designations that bypass Congress are hugely controversial. In this presidential election year, the politics in a state like Nevada are even more sensitive.

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People light candles at a memorial to the Orlando shooting victims outside the Stonewall Inn last week in New York.

Obama Names LGBT Landmark As National Monument

3:49pm June 24, 2016

by Scott Horsley

The Stonewall National Monument in New York City will be the first addition to the National Park System specifically highlighting the history of the LGBT community.

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell speaks in front of the Stonewall Inn in 2014 to announce a National Park Service initiative to identify historic sites related to the struggle for LGBT rights.

National

Long A Symbol, Stonewall Inn May Soon Become Monument To LGBT Rights

8:20am May 30, 2016

by Hansi Lo Wang

President Obama may use his executive authority to declare the site of the Stonewall riots in New York City as the first national monument dedicated to the struggle for LGBT rights.

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On Equal Pay Day, President Obama marks the designation of a women's equality national monument.

As Hollywood Stars Can Attest, It's Good To Be A Man On Payday

7:37pm April 12, 2016

by Marilyn Geewax

Economic data show that men still make a dollar for every 79 cents a woman earns. A half-century ago, that figure was just 59 cents. So, much progress has been made, but a large wage gap persists.