Rep. Chu Blasts Zinke’s Secretive Recommendation to Shrink Monuments

WASHINGTON, D.C. – 8/24/2017 Today, U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended that President Trump change the borders of “a handful” of National Monuments. The Secretary did not publicly specify which monuments he is recommending be changed, but the recommendation comes after a White House ordered review of 27 National Monuments, including the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument which Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27) has championed. Rep. Chu released the following statement:

“At the behest of oil companies eager to drill in protected lands, Donald Trump ordered a review of 27 of America’s most beloved national monuments. Now, after visiting just eight of them, Secretary Zinke is ignoring the outpouring of public support from 2.7 million Americans and recommending that an undetermined number be altered. The public deserves to see the complete list of recommendations that were sent to the White House. That he is not recommending any of the monuments be eliminated – as was intended at the start of the review – is an acknowledgement that these monuments all comport with the Antiquities Act. And so he is seeking to change them to cater to corporate interests instead.

“We invited Secretary Zinke to visit the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument to actually hear from the communities that support it. But instead, Zinke and Trump are choosing to listen to corporations and Washington lobbyists. Because of the utter lack of transparency, we do not know if the San Gabriels – which are supported by 80% of Angelenos – are among those to be altered.”