Originally, setting up this site, I wasn't sure how much material I would end up with on the marine monuments, so I just made one page for all of them. As I near the end of this first phase of this project, I realize that I have plenty of material available to justify each of these monuments having their own page.
For simplicity's sake, and a rapidly approaching deadline to meet my initial goals (one post for each of the 27), I am not running back to fix links in old posts, so I will keep this page up for now, redirecting visitors to the new pages.
Of course, there's also that link to the excellent National Geographic article at the bottom of the page. That justifies keeping this page even after all the links are fixed!
I'll admit... Maybe I was not taking these monuments as seriously as the others. However, while working on those posts, I learned a lot about them and the issues involved with them. They are every bit as important as the "land" monuments, and in just as much danger as the monuments being threatened in the Continental U. S.
The February 2017 issue of National Geographic contained a great article on these monuments (see link below), and it was the first time I learned anything about them. The article provides a fantastic overview of all of the monuments below. It is a shame that only a few weeks after this article was published, these monuments were facing elimination.
California
Expansion
May 24, 2007
9,600 acres
California
Expansion
March 12, 2015
484,480 acres
California
Expansion
March 12, 2015
1,288,320 acres
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands/Pacific Ocean
Designation
January 6, 2009
60,938,240 acres
California
Expansion
November 20, 2008
496,000 acres
American Samoa
Expansion
July 26, 2012
8,691,840 acres
Atlantic Ocean
Designation
September 15, 2016
3,114,320 acres
Pacific Ocean
Designation; Expansion
January 6, 2009; September 25, 2014
55,608,320 acres
Hawaii
Expansion
August 26, 2016
283,379,840 acres
American Samoa
Designation
January 6, 2009
8,608,640 acres
All of Rose Atoll Marine National Monument is contained within National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa.
Michigan
Expansion
September 5, 2014
2,465,280 acres