9-Year-Old Starts Initiative to Help Protect America’s National Monuments

In 1906, the Antiquities Act was established to preserve “historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest.” Nearly 130 such national monuments are recognized today, but their status isn’t as safe as nature lovers might hope. In an effort to ensure protected sites stay protected, 9-year-old Robbie Bond launched a nonprofit called Kids Speak for Parks.

As the Huffington Post reports, Robbie formed the group after learning that 27 national monuments are under threat from the U.S. government. The president issued two executive orders in April, calling for a review of a list of monuments to see if they should be stripped of their titles. The Vermillion Cliffs, the Sonoran Desert, and Papahānaumokuākea in Robbie’s home state of Hawaii could all be made vulnerable under the initiative.

Robbie believes these monuments shouldn’t be messed with, and he’s spreading his message of conservation by visiting all 27 of them. He and his parents have made stops at Carrizo Plain and Giant Sequoia in California and Bears Ears national monument in Utah so far and they plan to visit sites in Nevada and New Mexico next. Along the way, Robbie will be sharing photos and updates from his journey with hopes of inspiring an "army of fourth graders" to join his crusade.

"You can’t get the parks back once they’ve been taken away, and I want our national parks and monuments to be available for my kids and for future generations," Robbie said in a video announcing the project.

You can follow Robbie’s U.S. tour on the Kids Speak for Parks Facebook page and on his website.