Our Public Lands and Waters are Under Attack!

Our public lands and waters are currently under attack by Republicans in the White House and in Congress who are actively working to sell off our public places to big corporate polluters. Click on the location markers below to learn more about the public lands and waters that are under threat.

In April 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order directing the Department of the Interior to review the establishment history and status of 27 national monuments created since 1996 under the Antiquities Act, a law Congress passed more than a century ago that authorizes the president to designate national monuments on existing federal land. More than 2.5 million public comments were submitted and revealed that a large majority of Americans are supportive of maintaining or expanding current national monument boundaries. Despite overwhelming opposition, in August 2017 Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended shrinking or modifying at least ten national monuments. The RED marker represents the two national monuments in Utah the Trump administration is slashing by more than two million acres. The ORANGE marker represents the parks that Secretary Zinke has proposed to remove protections from.

Offshore Drilling

On January 4, 2018, the administration released its five-year plan for offshore oil and gas leasing along the entire Atlantic and Pacific coasts, a plan that would weaken offshore drilling environmental and safety standards, and put over 90 percent of our coasts in danger of drilling. The BLUE marker represents the waters that would be at risk under the Trump administration's offshore drilling plan. The shaded BLUE area represents the parts of our coasts, known as the Outer Continental Shelf, that could be opened to oil and gas development by the offshore plan. (Source: https://marinecadastre.gov/data)

National Wildlife Refuges

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is biggest and the wildest land publicly owned by the United States and is home to a variety of species of plants and animals, such as polar bears, caribou, wolves, eagles, and migratory birds, that rely on the refuge. Unfortunately, this pristine land is now at risk of being handed over to big oil companies. The Republican tax bill (H.R. 1) included a measure in the bill that would allow oil drilling and other energy development, lifting a 40-year-ban on development in the area. The bill passed in the U.S. House of Representatives without a single Democratic vote and was signed into law by President Trump in December 2017. The GREEN marker represents the region of pristine land in Alaska's Arctic Refuge that the Trump administration is taking steps to open to dangerous oil drilling.

The Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge along the U.S.-Mexico border was established in 1943 to protect migratory birds and the endangered ocelot. Trump's proposed border wall would destroy the refuge, separate and intimidate communities, encroach on landowner rights and harm wildlife. Ranking Member Grijalva and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection calling for the preparation of a supplemental programmatic environmental impact statement (essentially a thorough exploration of environmental impacts) for the U.S.-Mexico border enforcement program. The FOREST GREEN marker represents the land in the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge under threat.  

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