Monuments in Name Only: The Delay Between Designation and Protection of National Monuments

摘要

Our public lands arc amazing places. Year after year, people travel from across the globe to experience America's natural beauty and history through the public lands system. Although national parks are most well-known, national monuments hold wonders just as inspiring and beautiful and are often the first step in creating a new national park. As visitation swells in our public lands system, and with the advent of social media, this trend of increased use does not seem to be going away. Moreover, many who plan on visiting public lands system arc now willing to eschew the popular national parks for more remote and lesser-known areas. For many, this means exploring the national monument system, and experiencing the beautiful, often less crowded, wilder areas of the country.