In conjunction with national park week, 122 groups sent a letter to Congress Tuesday urging members to oppose any legislation that might weaken protections of national parks and monuments.
The letter — signed by various groups representing the LGBTQ community, women, disabled Americans, African-Americans and others — calls the shrinking of national monuments an attack on the Antiquities Act.
“Any attack on our public lands, monuments, oceans, and waters is an attack on our communities, our history, our contributions to this great nation, and our culture; and it robs the next generation of a chance to learn from these shared treasures,” reads the letter. “It has often been said that our nation’s public lands system is one of our best ideas; we must now come together to protect these special places.”
The letter comes months after President Trump signed off on shrinking the borders of two national monuments in Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante that were designated under an Obama administration executive order. The current administration has said it is reconsidering the boundaries of other national and marine monuments.