today's Featured List/May 17, 2019
There are 129 protected areas in the United States known as national monuments.
The President of the United States can establish a national monument by presidential proclamation, and the United States Congress can do so by legislation. The president's authority arises from the Antiquities Act of 1906, which authorizes the president to proclaim "historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest" as national monuments. President Theodore Roosevelt established the first national monument, Devils Tower (pictured) in Wyoming, on September 24, 1906. He established 18 national monuments, although only nine still retain that designation. National monuments are located in 31 states as well as in the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Minor Outlying Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Arizona and California have the largest number of national monuments, each with 18, followed by New Mexico with 14. At least 75 national monuments protect places of natural significance, and 62 have historical importance. (Full list...)
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