Posts Tagged ‘national monuments’
Posted on July 29, 2026, 5:43 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
When President Trump reduced Bears Ears National Monument by 85 percent in 2017, it was difficult to imagine a more drastic dismantling. The 1.35-million-acre monument established by President Obama in 2016 was cut to 201,876 acres. President Biden restored and slightly expanded it in 2021. On July 13, 2026, Trump reduced Bears Ears again. This […]
Posted on July 16, 2026, 3:29 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
On July 13, President Trump once again stripped national-monument protection from most of Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument in Utah. In 2017, his first administration reduced the monument by nearly half. Together with the drastic reduction of Bears Ears (just renewed, and even worse), the action was widely described as the largest rollback of federal land […]
Posted on March 30, 2026, 1:52 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
https://www.terragalleria.com/blog/baaj-nwaavjo-itah-kukveni-ancestral-footprints-of-the-grand-canyon-national-monument The first step is to pronounce and remember: Baahj-Nuh-Waahv-Joh Ee-Tah-Kook-Venny. The name itself slows you down. “Baaj Nwaavjo” in Havasupai means “where the ancient people roamed,” while “I’tah Kukveni” is the Hopi translation of “ancestral footsteps.” The monument’s full name makes clear that this is not empty land, not just scenery, and not simply […]
Posted on November 28, 2025, 12:12 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
https://www.terragalleria.com/blog/national-parks-and-monuments-during-the-shutdown By the time I arrived in New Mexico this November, the numbers out of Washington were already worse than in April. Since the presidential inauguration, the National Park Service has now shed roughly a quarter of its permanent staff through buyouts, forced retirements, rescinded offers, and an ongoing hiring freeze. The “One Big Beautiful […]
Posted on April 26, 2025, 2:55 pm, by QT Luong, under
Uncategorized.
https://www.terragalleria.com/blog/national-park-week-2025-what-were-really-up-against Each April, National Park Week is a time to celebrate the beauty, history, and spirit of America’s public lands. But in 2025, celebration must be paired with vigilance. The threats facing our national parks and public lands aren’t just abstract — they are deliberate, coordinated, and accelerating beneath the surface. From budget cuts and […]
Posted on June 30, 2023, 2:37 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Fort Ord National Monument memorializes a former military base and provides an excellent bike recreational trail system. My first visits shortly after its designation in 2012 left me unimpressed, but after multiple return trips, I eventually began to appreciate the subtle but diverse landscape that includes several Central Coast ecosystems. Barack Obama ended up designating […]
Posted on May 28, 2023, 11:00 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
The April trip to Japan and its aftermath made me miss the California wildflower season, which due to the winter’s abundant rains, was a super bloom. In early May, figuring out that Southern California would be long past peak, I went on pursuit of wildflowers in Northern California. The northern part of the state doesn’t […]
Posted on September 24, 2022, 5:05 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Last week, I marked the 26th anniversary of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by highlighting two sites along the Cottonwood Canyon Road. One of them, Yellow Rock, was part of the lands that lost protections when the former president
Posted on September 18, 2022, 10:51 pm, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, the largest national monument in the continental United States, was established on this day in 1996. Such a large, and mostly undeveloped area can be intimidating to explore. In this article, I take you along the easiest of the monument roads that explore its vast interior, the Cottonwood Canyon Road, along […]
Posted on December 15, 2021, 10:27 am, by QT Luong, under
Locations.
Are you looking for new landscapes away from the crowds of the national parks? Are you seeking a more adventurous and out-of-the-beaten-path experience? If so, how about a visit to America’s national monuments? National monuments: what are they? Ask a person on the street to name a national monument, and you will probably hear about […]
