Letter to the Editor - Protecting remarkable areas vital

Editor,

Interior Secretary Ryin Zinke has been instructed by the White House to review larger national monuments established since 1996 to determine if any of them should be reduced in size or possibly even eliminated all together.

The Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument is included in this review. It was only after much public debate and input that the Missouri River Breaks were given monument status.

Some people will always oppose these designations, but most Montanans were in favor of protecting this special place. In a world of increasing human populations and development, it is vitally important to set aside some remarkable areas, to protect the natural, historical or cultural objects they possess. Shrinking the size of the Missouri Breaks Monument would remove those protections.

Zinke and President Donald Trump need to see into the future, that in a time in which there is increasing pressure to develop resources, some places need to be kept as they are, not just for us, but for future generations, that they will not bemoan what has been lost.

Most presidents have worked to protect certain places, will this president work to remove those protections?

Jim Brenna

Havre