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22 Stunning Pics Of National Monuments Trump Could Get Rid Of With New Order

by Alexandra Svokos
Wikimedia Commons

President Donald Trump is supposed to sign a new executive order on Wednesday that's all about national monuments.

This new executive order would make the Interior Department review places that were named national monuments in the last 21 years, according to the Washington Post.

So all of the national monuments so named by Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton will be reviewed.

National monuments are kind of like national parks. A president decides that a certain space is important for research or history and then it gets protected. This has been allowed since the Antiquities Act in 1906.

Monuments can be parks and historic landmarks, including buildings, and they can denote moments in American history.

It's well known that Trump isn't the biggest fan of the environment.

He's said he doesn't believe climate change is real. His budget plan would cut a ton of money from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Fans of nature (and those who work for it) have been concerned about what he will do to America's land, and this upcoming move is not a comforting sign for many.

Trump is particularly concerned about two national monuments in Utah, apparently.

Obama declared Bears Ears a national monument in December and Clinton declared Grand Staircase-Escalante a national monument in 1996.

There's absolutely nothing magical about those places, and I can't possibly imagine why anyone would want to protect these total dumpsters:

Republicans in Utah, however, were not pleased with those designations. They believe the Democratic presidents overstepped their power and took way too much land away.

"In President Trump, we have a leader who is committed to defending the Western way of life," Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah said on Monday. "I am deeply grateful for his willingness to work with us to undo the harm caused by the overreach of his predecessors."

Let's take a look at what presidential overreach looks like.

Bears Ears, Utah -- designated by Obama in 2016.

Grand-Staircase Escalante, Utah -- designated by Clinton in 1996.

"We could go for hours without seeing another group and everything felt untouched by litter and technology," Whitney Woodworth, who took the photo above, told Elite Daily.

Gold Butte, Nevada -- designated by Obama in 2016.

(Photo credit: Randy Langstraat)

Many of the national monuments include historic artifacts -- from manmade art to ancient fossils.

Waco Mammoth, Texas -- designated by Obama in 2015.

Berryessa Snow Mountain, California -- designated by Obama in 2015.

San Juan Islands, Washington -- designated by Obama in 2013.

(Photo credit: Molly Waters, student at Northeastern University's Three Seas Program)

Upper Missouri River Breaks, Montana -- designated by Clinton in 2001.

Mojave Trails, California -- designated by Obama in 2016.

Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument, Washington, D.C. -- designated by Obama in 2016.

This designation caused a stir last year. It's one of the monuments that's a more recently historic landmark rather than beautiful land with old history.

It was previously known as the Sewall-Belmont House and was a place where women worked to get closer to equality in Washington.

African Burial Grounds, New York -- designated by Bush in 2006.

The burial ground in Lower Manhattan marks where free and enslaved Africans were buried in the 1700s.

Other national monuments related to America's racist history include the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad in Maryland (designated by Obama in 2013) and the Freedom Riders National Monument in Alabama and Reconstruction Era National Monument in South Carolina (both designated by Obama in 2017).

There is also the Honouliuli Internment Camp in Hawaii (designated by Obama in 2015), which marks where Japanese Americans were held during World War II.

Marianas Trench Marine, Guam -- designated by Bush in 2009.

Bush was particularly fond of designating ocean spaces, especially those used for research. In addition to the Marianas, he designated the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument and Rose Atoll.

Pacific Remote Islands -- designated by Bush in 2009.

Katahdin Woods and Waters, Maine -- designated by Obama in 2016.

This is another controversial monument. Republican Governor Paul LePage wants to see Obama's designation reversed by Trump.

Governors Island, New York -- designated by Clinton in 2001.

Yeah, that's right -- the place with the cool music festival is also a national monument. With a suitably weird Instagram account.

Prehistoric Trackways, New Mexico -- designated by Obama in 2009.

In addition to just being a gorgeous place, this monument has a ton of amazing fossils and historic footprints.

Sorry for adding a million places to your America bucket list, but this country has some damn cool places.

We'll find out soon enough what Trump will do to them.

Citations: Trump to issue new order calling into question two decades of national monument designations (Washington Post), Sewall-Belmont House, a Center of the Women's Equality Movement, Becomes a National Monument (New York Times), President Bush Announces New National Monuments (Real Clear Politics), Trump, LePage actions threaten Maine's national monument (BDN Maine)