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Our National Monuments: America's Hidden Gems
Discover spectacular and less-traveled alternatives to bustling national parks with this superb coffee table the first photography book about the landscape-scale national monuments, including introductions from local conservationists and travel notes for each photograph. Winner of six national book awards.
With the stroke of a pen, the president of the United States can proclaim a national monument. The Antiquities Act of 1906 was enacted to provide an expedited means to protect areas of natural or cultural significance. Since then, 16 presidents have used the Act to preserve some of America' most treasured public lands and waters. In 2017, an unprecedented executive order was issued questioning these designations by calling for the review of 27 national monuments across 11 states and two oceans, opening the threat of development to vulnerable and irreplaceable natural resources.
Our National Monuments , the first book of its kind, introduces these spectacular and unique landscapes at risk from the review. From the north woods of Maine to the cactus-filled deserts of Arizona, these national monuments include vast lands rivaling the national parks in beauty, diversity, and historical heritage. The critically important landscapes are often under the radar, with limited visitor information available, yet offer considerable opportunities for solitude and adventure compared to bustling national parks.
QT Luong - one of the most prolific photographers working in America's public lands and author of the best-selling and acclaimed photography book about the national parks, Treasured Lands - hiked and camped in the 22 land-based national monuments under review, aiming his lens at the grand vistas, archaeological wonders, and hidden delights along the way. Accompanying the collection of 300 scenic photographs is an invaluable guide that includes maps, descriptions of the author's wide-ranging explorations and highlights for each of the monuments. Introductory essays from leaders and activists of 27 conservation associations provide the perspective of citizens caring for each of these national treasures. A foreword by former Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, as well as photographs of marine national monuments from Ansel Adams award-winning photographer Ian Shive round out this comprehensive portrayal of America's hidden gems.
Our National Monuments invites readers to experience for themselves these lands and learn about the people and cultures who came before - for whom these sites remain sacred places - with a renewed understanding of how these essential landscapes are preserving America's past and shaping its future.
National Outdoor Book Awards - Design & Artistic Merit Winner
Foreword Indies Book of the Year - Coffee Table Books Gold Winner
International Book Awards - Photography Winner
National Indie Excellence Awards - Photography Winner
IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award - Art and Photography Silver Medal
Nautilus Book Awards - Photography and Arts Silver Winner
The areas in the book represent the vast majority of the large national monuments, including the following twenty-two national monuments on Basin and Range, Bears Ears, Berryessa Snow Mountain, Canyons of the Ancients, Carrizo Plain, Cascade Siskiyou, Craters of the Moon, Giant Sequoia, Gold Butte, Grand Canyon-Parashant, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Hanford Reach, Ironwood Forest, Katahdin Woods and Waters, Mojave Trails, Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, Rio Grande del Norte, Sand to Snow, San Gabriel Mountains, Sonoran Desert, Upper Missouri River Breaks, Vermilion Cliffs, and each of the five oceanic marine national Marianas Trench, Northeast Canyons and Seamounts, Pacific Remote Islands, Papahānaumokuākea, Rose Atoll.
With the stroke of a pen, the president of the United States can proclaim a national monument. The Antiquities Act of 1906 was enacted to provide an expedited means to protect areas of natural or cultural significance. Since then, 16 presidents have used the Act to preserve some of America' most treasured public lands and waters. In 2017, an unprecedented executive order was issued questioning these designations by calling for the review of 27 national monuments across 11 states and two oceans, opening the threat of development to vulnerable and irreplaceable natural resources.
Our National Monuments , the first book of its kind, introduces these spectacular and unique landscapes at risk from the review. From the north woods of Maine to the cactus-filled deserts of Arizona, these national monuments include vast lands rivaling the national parks in beauty, diversity, and historical heritage. The critically important landscapes are often under the radar, with limited visitor information available, yet offer considerable opportunities for solitude and adventure compared to bustling national parks.
QT Luong - one of the most prolific photographers working in America's public lands and author of the best-selling and acclaimed photography book about the national parks, Treasured Lands - hiked and camped in the 22 land-based national monuments under review, aiming his lens at the grand vistas, archaeological wonders, and hidden delights along the way. Accompanying the collection of 300 scenic photographs is an invaluable guide that includes maps, descriptions of the author's wide-ranging explorations and highlights for each of the monuments. Introductory essays from leaders and activists of 27 conservation associations provide the perspective of citizens caring for each of these national treasures. A foreword by former Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, as well as photographs of marine national monuments from Ansel Adams award-winning photographer Ian Shive round out this comprehensive portrayal of America's hidden gems.
Our National Monuments invites readers to experience for themselves these lands and learn about the people and cultures who came before - for whom these sites remain sacred places - with a renewed understanding of how these essential landscapes are preserving America's past and shaping its future.
National Outdoor Book Awards - Design & Artistic Merit Winner
Foreword Indies Book of the Year - Coffee Table Books Gold Winner
International Book Awards - Photography Winner
National Indie Excellence Awards - Photography Winner
IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award - Art and Photography Silver Medal
Nautilus Book Awards - Photography and Arts Silver Winner
The areas in the book represent the vast majority of the large national monuments, including the following twenty-two national monuments on Basin and Range, Bears Ears, Berryessa Snow Mountain, Canyons of the Ancients, Carrizo Plain, Cascade Siskiyou, Craters of the Moon, Giant Sequoia, Gold Butte, Grand Canyon-Parashant, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Hanford Reach, Ironwood Forest, Katahdin Woods and Waters, Mojave Trails, Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, Rio Grande del Norte, Sand to Snow, San Gabriel Mountains, Sonoran Desert, Upper Missouri River Breaks, Vermilion Cliffs, and each of the five oceanic marine national Marianas Trench, Northeast Canyons and Seamounts, Pacific Remote Islands, Papahānaumokuākea, Rose Atoll.
- GenresTravelConservation
308 pages, Hardcover
Published November 9, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 16, 2022
This tomb of a book is a great coffee table addition. Beautiful photography and anecdotes.
December 9, 2021
QT has crafted another magnificent book showcasing some of the natural wonders of the United States that most people have never heard of. His passion for these National Monuments is apparent through out the book as well as his desire to preserve them.
He gives you a broad view of each monument from the stunning vistas to the intimate little nooks. You get a true sense of the breadth of each place and why it's important. I thought I knew most of the parks he would show, but I realized there are quite a few Monuments I didn't know existed.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who loves Nature/Landscape photography, or the US National Park System.
He gives you a broad view of each monument from the stunning vistas to the intimate little nooks. You get a true sense of the breadth of each place and why it's important. I thought I knew most of the parks he would show, but I realized there are quite a few Monuments I didn't know existed.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who loves Nature/Landscape photography, or the US National Park System.
October 16, 2023
Lovely pictures - but only the marine monuments featured pictures of wildlife, so the role of our National Monuments in conservation wasn't quite as featured as it could have been.
Not the fault of the book, of course, but it's disappointing to pick up a book like this and learn that the majority of sites on our public National Monuments are only accessible by those who can afford a 4WD vehicle and are willing to travel in groups and develop offroad skills.
Not the fault of the book, of course, but it's disappointing to pick up a book like this and learn that the majority of sites on our public National Monuments are only accessible by those who can afford a 4WD vehicle and are willing to travel in groups and develop offroad skills.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 9, 2025
While the photographs are BEAUTIFUL! this isn't just a coffee table book. It dedicates itself to awareness, conservation, and preservation of 27 more at-risk wild national spaces. The information on each is written with such passion and I hope we all take the need for these places with even a bit of that passion.
April 13, 2022
*Huge book with beautiful pictures from many states. Loved seeing so many pictures of the national monuments.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews