Both national monuments were designated to safeguard important habitat for endangered species and fragile cultural areas, which require active management.
President Barack Obama designated Basin and Range National Monument in 2015 and Gold Butte National Monument in 2017 through presidential proclamations under the Antiquities Act. The proclamations specifically state that the BLM “shall prepare and maintain a management plan for the monument[s],” a requirement that the agency has ignored.
Basin and Range was designated to protect wide-open landscapes and fragile cultural areas like the Mount Irish Archaeological Site. Gold Butte was designated to protect essential desert tortoise habitat and renowned cultural sites like Falling Man.
Visitation to these areas has increased dramatically, and human waste has proliferated in camping areas and near cultural sites. Meanwhile, unmanaged cattle grazing is degrading valuable riparian habitat and harming desert tortoises.