What exactly does 'reviewing' mean, if not removal from designation as a national monument? Is there pressure to open up these lands for private use, for instance in the western states especially I know this is a huge concern. I was shocked to see many of our beautiful favorites listed.

And I am fairly familiar with the Pacific Remote Island NM too. I can't believe that one. Or the others either (Marianas Trench, and the one in Hawaii especially). The wildlife alone will suffer greatly from damage that could be done from fishing, undersea explorations, and the small islands affected by this.

I have been to 5 of those Monuments: Basin and Range, Craters of the Moon, Giant Sequoias, Grand Staircase - Esclante, and Sonoran Desert. It would be shame to see any of those to go. Four of those are water starved and have a fragile environment.

Thank you for your comments. You can send remarks to the interior department anonymously through the link above (top right corner of that page I think). I encourage you; the window of opportunity to comment is very short.

Also note how many were established in the last 8 years. The lands could be opened up for oil drilling, animal grazing, less protection of precious ecosystems.

The lands could be opened up

With the current administration that would be the entire point.

This has not just started with the current administration. Land grabbers, oil drillers, developers, etc have been trying to get at these protected lands for years.

The Trump administration seems to do a lot of things for no other reason than to antagonize people who didn't vote for him, which is the majority of the US population.

Land grabbers, oil drillers, developers, etc have been trying to get at these protected lands for years

With the current administration being predisposed to make such things happen.

The fact that they are even thinking about it is disgusting.

Today's Chicago Tribune has a guest editorial in the Perspectives section. It's by a native Texan, Rick Bass, currently writer-in-residence at Montana State University. He focuses first on the Bundy family's quest to continue to use public lands for personal gains -- based on the fact that they were able to do it unchallenged until recently. He sees the Bundys being goaded by Big Business, which seeks privatization of *more* of the American wilderness with the Trump administration. in power.

"In January Rep. Jasin Chaffetz, R-Utah, intoduced a bill to allow the sale of 3.3 million acres of public lands." (He withdrew the bill after public protests.)

We can fight back or lose the last of the American wilderness to ever-present greed. If you believe This Land is Our Land, you better say so now.

Thank you, Chisue! While I appreciate all the comments here on houzz, my

hope is that each one of you files a comment with the department of Interior

and also shares the link with others so they can comment. It's very easy, top

right of the linked page to comment.

Spread the word, please.

Just over 10,000 comments so far. Not enough, and the time for comments is short.

It's urgent!

Please be sure to read the PDF regarding making an effective comment. If you can make a reasoned argument that disputes the idea that private use of public land is the best use, citing past history or rulings, that may be most effective

Maybe a carry-over from another recent/adjacent thread ...

... but ...

... some folks' sell their own mother, I think, if they could make a few bucks on the deal.

o j