The Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation recently sent a letter to our Congressional delegation – two Senators and five Representatives – in support of the Antiquities Act of 2018.  

The challenge the Antiquities Act of 2018 aims to address is the possible shrinkage of the size of national monuments and other threats. It declares Congress’ support for the 51 national monuments established January 1996 and April 2017. It also creates protections for particular monuments (including Bears Ears National Monument), mandates that national monuments be surveyed and mapped, and requires that management plans be completed in two years. 

The bill currently has 68 House cosponsors and 20 Senate cosponsors (including Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal). Will you join us in thanking Senator Blumenthal for cosponsoring, and encouraging other members of our delegation to cosponsor as well?  Read on for more background! 

National monuments are created pursuant to the powers vested in the President through the Antiquities Act of 1906. Since President Theodore Roosevelt created the first national monument at Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, Presidents of both parties have created national monuments. President George W. Bush created the largest national monument, the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, at approximately 89 million acres in the Pacific Ocean.

Many monuments – including the Papahanaumokuakea, as well as the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument that our delegation helped create in the Atlantic Ocean – protect natural resources. However, many national monuments involve historic resources – the kind that we work hard to protect. Historic monuments that speak to our shared history include the African Burial Ground National Monument, the Stonewall National Monument, President Lincoln and Soldiers’ Home National Monument, the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument, the Mojave Trails National Monument, and the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument.

All of these significant places would be ensured protection by the Antiquities Act of 2018. Our delegation’s support for the Antiquities Act of 2018 would enable the American people to protect priceless sites that can never be recreated once destroyed.