Located 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod, the Northeast Canyons & Seamounts Marine National Monument is the ONLY marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean.

This designation ensures the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts will be preserved for future generations by prohibiting any environment-altering activities, like oil drilling.

The entire monument stretches for 4,913 square miles—about the same size as Connecticut—and it supports a unique ecosystem unlike anywhere else in the world. With that unique ecosystem comes a high degree of biodiversity, including many threatened, endangered, and even undiscovered species.

Connecticut's Congressional delegation—led by Senator Richard Blumenthal—championed the effort to protect the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts, and President Barack Obama designated them as a National Marine Monument in 2016. 

Unfortunately, with the election of President Donald Trump, the monument has since come under attack.
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Since taking office, President Trump has expressed a strong interest in opening up the Canyons and Seamounts to commercial fishing. The monument could also be vulnerable to the Trump Administration's interest in offshore drilling.

In 2017, President Trump used his authority to rescind national monument status on Utah's Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante for commercial development and resource extraction, eliminating two million acres of protected area. This sets a disturbing precedent, and could represent a vulnerability for the Canyons and Seamounts should President Trump decide to pursue offshore drilling. 

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A recent update: A federal appeals court is upholding the Canyons and Seamounts Monument as the Atlantic Ocean's first marine national monument. This is the latest judicial confirmation to verify the designation.

THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change is causing our oceans to become warmer and more acidic, and we are still learning just how this impacting the health of ecosystems like the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts. 

In 2019, Sen. Murphy asked for $500,000 in funding for federal grants to study the impacts of climate change on this monument. CTLCV is now asking for him to fight for this funding in the Appropriations Committee as Congress deliberates on it budget bill. Click the button below to join CTLCV in this effort.

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THE ANTIQUITIES ACT

The Antiquities Act of 1906 states that once monuments are designated, only Congress has the authority to abolish or modify them according to the Property Clause in the Constitution. Presidents do not have the authority to modify borders or to revoke national monument status.

President Trump has made it clear that he wants to alter any and all national monument status, as he said it was a “massive federal land grab,” and publicly-owned land should be returned back to the states for whatever use they choose, including oil drilling, commercial development, and resource extraction; completely disregarding the fact that these national monuments provide safe habitat for hundreds of species and boost the tourism economy of the states they’re in.

This year lawmakers in Washington DC have introduced S 367 and HR 1050 to strengthen the Antiquities Act of 1906 in order to protect our public lands. The Antiquities Act of 2019 has three main components.
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1. Officially declares Congress’ support for the 52 presidential national monument designations form 1996-2018.
2. Reinforces that presidential proclamations designating monuments are valid and cannot be diminished except by an act of Congress.
3. Increases protections for presidentially-designated monuments by mandating that they be surveyed and mapped, and that a management plan be created within two years of the designation. Also by receiving adequate or extra funding to ensure that the monument is providing as much economic or tourist benefits to the state as possible.

The Antiquities Act of 2019 would also establish a National Monument Enhancement Fund to provide $100,000,000 every fiscal year for federal acquisition and development of recreational infrastructure at monuments.

Currently, Connecticut Senators Blumenthal and Murphy have signed on as well as Representative Himes and DeLauro. We need to encourage all of our legislators to support this act in order to preserve the environment we all know and love for future generations.

MORE INFORMATION

• Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Fact Sheet
• A Deeper Connection to the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts (NRDC.org)