Federal officials target 27 national monuments for review

WASHINGTON (AP) – A list of 27 national monuments has been assembled as the Interior Department reviews possible changes to the protections created by Republican and Democratic presidents over the past two decades.

The 27 monuments are mostly in the Western United States. Also under review are five marine monuments in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

President Donald Trump ordered the review last month. He says that the protections imposed by the last three presidents amount to “a massive federal land grab” that “should never have happened.”

Trump and others have argued that people who live in the states should decide how best to use the lands.

The designation of the sites as protected areas restricts their use. Conservationists generally cheer the designations as a way of warding off development.

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