Backing Interior Away from Steep National Park Fee Hike • Friends of the Earth

Yosemite. Yellowstone. Grand Canyon. Zion. These national parks are iconic symbols of the beauty of the United States, and our dedication to protecting our most beautiful landmarks.  Since their creation in the late 19th century, national parks have become a very big deal—for the U.S., and for the visitors from around the world who love them.

And they’re a big deal for good reason. The National Park Service (NPS) designates and preserves our lands, creates equal access to the outdoors for all Americans, and ensures these natural spaces will exist far into the future-not just for latter generations, but also, for the integrity of the land itself. 

What’s not to like? Maybe paying $70 to take your family on a visit. 

In October of 2017, NPS proposed a controversial idea: increase the entry fee of the 17 most visited national parks in the U.S., with fees at the most popular parks jumping from $30 to $70. 

The idea of pricing millions of Americans out of visiting these beloved spaces is wholly un-American. Secretary Ryan Zinke’s decision prioritizes money over public access, and further undermines the challenges facing low-income families and individuals. National parks should be for everyone, and affordability should not be a deterrent…

more: Backing Interior Away from Steep National Park Fee Hike • Friends of the Earth

The Assault on Environmental Protest | American Civil Liberties Union

More than 50 state bills that would criminalize protest, deter political participation, and curtail freedom of association have been introduced across the country in the past two years. These bills are a direct reaction from politicians and corporations to the tactics of some of the most effective protesters in recent history, including Black Lives Matter and the water protectors challenging construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock…

more: The Assault on Environmental Protest | American Civil Liberties Union

Tell Congress to protect our public lands – #RESIST Trump's agenda

Resist Trump's Monumental Rollback

The threat to unravel protections for Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument is one step closer to reality. After a rushed review, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced he recommends eliminating protections for portions of Bears Ears.

An attack on one national monument is an attack on all of our public lands. If all areas in the current Bears Ears National Monument is no longer protected, what is fate of the 26 national monuments also under review, our national parks, our wildlife refuges, and other public lands and waters?

It’s clear that the Department of the Interior and the Trump administration have a common goal -- auctioning off our public lands and waters to those who put profits before our historical, cultural, and natural heritage. Now, Congress must step up to protect our special places.

Tell your members of Congress commit to protecting our public lands and waters for generations to come.

I am appalled by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s recommendation to eliminate protections for portions of Bears Ears Bears Ears National Monument. 

It’s clear that the Department of the Interior and the Trump administration have a common goal -- auctioning off our public lands and waters to those who put profits before our historical, cultural, and natural heritage. Now, I look to you to do what this administration will not -- to protect our special places for generations to come. 
 Even in the rush to open up our public lands to destruction, over a million people have weighed in with Secretary Zinke to tell him to keep our public lands in public hands and to protect them for future generations. I hope that you will listen to your constituents like me, and stand up for our special places.

For over a century, Congress has played an important role in safeguarding and preserving our lands, waters, and cultural and historical sites for all people to enjoy. This slow motion threat to America’s national parks, public lands and oceans could undo this work. 

After years of work by Tribal Nations  -- including the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni, and the Ute Indian Tribe -- and with overwhelming support by people across the country, Bears Ears National Monument became a reality. 

These lands are vital to tribal communities across the Colorado Plateau as a place of subsistence, spirituality, and healing. These lands are home to tens of thousands of important cultural sites, including the cliff dwellings, villages, and rock art panels of the Ancestral Puebloan people. We cannot turn our back on protecting invaluable places like this. 

Based on Interior Secretary Zinke’s recommendation for Bears Ears, the threat to protections for the 26 national monuments still under review by the DOI has never been more real. These are extraordinary places that showcase our country’s wide-ranging geography and cultural history. Spanning two oceans and 12 states, these national monuments feature ancient coral reefs, giant sequoias, expansive deserts, snow-capped mountains, breathtaking canyons, flower-filled plains, red rock wonders, and wild forests. 

Our national monuments tell the stories of cultures dating back millennia, continue to be a sacred place for many Native American Tribes, and offer people endless opportunities to experience the great outdoors. We cannot allow our public lands to be opened to development and changed forever. 

 Our parks, monuments, and other public lands define who we are as a nation. Please be a leader,  stand with the public, and protect our  public lands and waters.

Tell Congress to protect our public lands


MORE PETITIONS –

Make a public comment to protect national monuments from Trump! | Greenpeace

Bears Ears: We Must Protect This Spectacular, Sacred American Monument

Urge Secretary Zinke to Protect our National Monuments - Earthjustice

Conserving the Future is a Matter of Public Trust - Project Coyote

Children suing state and federal governments argue climate change will be irreversible and current generations should not rob the next of a stable, predictable climate. Treves says the same argument can be made regarding wildlife extinction. Photo: Thomas Good

Last May, a group of children persuaded the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to compel the state government to regulate greenhouse gases. Their case was based on a claim that the atmosphere falls under a long-standing legal principle: the government is obligated to hold some resources in trust for public use, now and in the future.

“Atmospheric trust” lawsuits are also advancing in other state courts and two federal courts. Their arguments arise from common-law principles, as well as the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of intergenerational justice for the beneficiaries identified in its Preamble: “to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”

The U.S. Constitution does not specifically mention the environment, so marshaling it in such cases depends on a common law doctrine called the “public trust” – the concept that certain assets must be held in trust for our children and theirs. This doctrine has guided almost 200 years of U.S. jurisprudence.

The Massachusetts case is just one of many that might revolutionize how the U.S. and state governments preserve our climate, water, and wildlife...

more: Conserving the Future is a Matter of Public Trust - Project Coyote

SAY NO TO THESE THREE URANIUM MINES AT GRAND CANYON

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is preparing to issue permits to allow the operation of three uranium mines in greater Grand Canyon watershed. Of course, this would benefit Energy Fuels Resources, Inc., the mining company that's requesting the permits. But what do the rest of us get? Radioactive pollution that threatens human health, wildlife, and ground and surface water.  

Allowing private companies to profit at the expense of public health and the environment is just wrong -- and we can't let it happen.  

Uranium mining creates fine dust containing radioactive particles, lead and arsenic. Because the dust is so fine, it travels far from mines into our waterways, recreation sites and communities. It can increase the risk of lung cancer, birth defects and kidney disease. Uranium mining exacts other costs as well: The federal government has spent billions trying to clean up old uranium mines, and the costs continue to mount. 

The Center for Biological Diversity has been working to end all uranium mining in the greater Grand Canyon region. Stopping these three mines is a very important part of that greater goal, and we need your help to make it happen. 

Please take action below -- tell the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality that you oppose the operation of the Canyon, AZ1 and EZ uranium mines.  

And if you can, join us on Tuesday, Aug. 30 in Flagstaff at Sinagua Middle School to voice your opposition to the issuance of new permits that will allow toxic uranium mining to continue on the rim of Grand Canyon. If you plan to attend, RSVP to Katie Davis.

SIGN NOW: Say No to These Three Uranium Mines at Grand Canyon