Press Release

Response to Camp Nelson designation: All monuments must be protected

White House

White House

Mason Cummings

Response to Camp Nelson announcement: All national monuments must be honored and protected

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27, 2018 --- Yesterday, the Trump administration designated a national monument to protect Camp Nelson, a Civil War camp in Kentucky.

Statement from Dan Hartinger, National Monuments Campaign Director, The Wilderness Society:

"We wholeheartedly support designating national monuments that honor the fight for equality and justice such as Camp Nelson.  However, all national monuments that recognize our diverse history must be protected and honored – including Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, where a coalition of sovereign tribal nations proposed and advocated for the monument.  Honoring Camp Nelson’s role in advancing equality while simultaneously working to strip protections from Bears Ears is disrespectful and hypocritical."

Background on Trump Administration roll back of national monument protections: 
President Trump’s unprecedented elimination of more than two million acres of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments – in order to sell them out to destructive development – is shameful and illegal. Tribal nations along with The Wilderness Society and other stakeholders are suing President Trump in federal court. We will continue to fight in court to ensure these illegal rollbacks aren’t allowed to move forward.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-establishment-camp-nelson-national-monument/


Contact: Michael Reinemer, Michael_Reinemer@tws.org; 202-429-3949


The Wilderness Society, founded in 1935, is the leading conservation organization working to protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places. With more than one million members and supporters, The Wilderness Society has led the effort to permanently protect 109 million acres of wilderness and to ensure sound management of our shared national lands. www.wilderness.org.