Press Release

A tribally led coalition is calling on the President to designate over 139,000 acres of the Dakota Prairie Grasslands in the Badlands of the Little Missouri River basin as a new National Monument. The designation for the Maah Daah Hey National Monument would be achieved through a Presidential Proclamation under the Antiquities Act, protecting the natural and tribal cultural resources of this landscape for future generations. If designated, the new National Monument would safeguard eleven non-motorized backcountry areas in western North Dakota, offering a haven for quiet recreation, grazing, unique wildlife, ancient geology, and centuries-old Native American cultural practices. The monument would also allow for the indigenous history of the North Dakota Badlands to be incorporated into the larger cultural narrative surrounding the North Dakota Badlands.