National monuments can take many forms: they may be man-made statues or buildings; areas of natural beauty or scientific interest; or some intersection of the two. People have been concerned about the preservation of monuments for over a century, which led to legislation that authorizes the U.S. government to name and protect natural areas and human creations as national monuments. The conservation of these monuments depends on their form, but it falls to the National Park Service to ensure their survival.
As America spread westward, citizens of European decent were settling new land in North America and discovering areas of natural and historical importance. Reports of areas of natural beauty helped to give birth to national parks, as well as to federal protection of these areas from development. Yellowstone, dedicated in 1872, was the first national park. In 1906, the Antiquities Act gave the government the power to protect smaller sites that would not get national park designation, but were still of value. This quickly expanded to encompass large areas of wilderness as well as man-made national treasures, according to the National Park Service.
President Theodore Roosevelt used the Antiquities Act to establish Devil's Tower in eastern Wyoming as the nation's first national monument in 1906. Presidents since have continued to name areas as national monuments, whether they are areas of natural beauty, historic significance or scientific importance. This designation protects these areas from development and ensures that the public has appropriate access to them.
Many monuments in the U.S. are entirely natural. These include the very first monument, the stone monolith of Devil's Tower, as well Muir Woods in California, and coral reefs in the Virgin Islands. Some early national monuments were areas that would subsequently become national parks, like the Grand Canyon. Each natural national monument needs special care to ensure proper conservation. For example, combating overfishing and water pollution that could threaten the coral reefs aid in conservation, while limiting climbers on Devil's Tower helps to preserve the integrity of the rock--as well as limit offense to native tribes, who consider it sacred, according to "The National Geographic Guide to National Parks of the United States."
Many monuments are not natural but honor human achievements. These include statues, such as the Statue of Liberty, as well as battlefields, like the famous Little Big Horn National Monument that commemorates Custer's Last Stand. These too require special precautions. The State of Liberty must be regularly restored so that the weather does not erode its features, while trees and other obstructions are kept off battlefields so they remain open and walkable.
Some monuments combine the natural world with man-made achievements. For example, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Maryland and West Virginia celebrate the natural waterways of the area that helped to create communities and facilitated trade and transport across the country. Thus, upkeep on the area requires attention to the natural aspects, as well as human structures.
