Campaign against Trump’s threat to US national monuments gathers pace

Activists are ramping up efforts to raise awareness of the US president's order, which puts 27 US wilderness areas at risk of losing their protected status
" US national monuments - in pictures

Imagine staring across the Utah wilderness at those famous towering mesas and buttes. Now imagine a great, hulking oil rig in the middle of it. It's an apocalyptic vision of an American wilderness given over to the energy industry, and one that campaigners fear could become a reality.

A total of 27 wilderness areas in the US known as national monuments - which together account for more than 11 million acres of protected land in 11 mostly western states - are at risk of being reduced in size or losing their designation altogether following an unprecedented presidential order issued in April.