Trump orders monument review
WASHINGTON • President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday instructing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review any national monument created since Jan. 1, 1996, that spans at least 100,000 acres in a move he said would “end another egregious use of government power.”
Referring to the 1906 law that empowers a president to take unilateral action to protect cultural, historic or natural resources on federal land that is under threat, Trump declared, “The Antiquities Act does not give the federal government unlimited power to lock up millions of acres of land and water, and it’s time that we ended this abusive practice.”
The sweeping review — which Trump predicted would “end these abuses and return control to the people, the people of all of the states, the people of the United States” — could prompt changes to areas designated not only by former president Barack Obama but also by George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday evening, Zinke suggested he would keep an open mind as he scrutinized past monument designations and that in and of itself the order would not repeal any existing monuments. “I’m not going to predispose what the outcome is going to be.”
But Trump indicated that he was eager to change the boundaries of a 1.35-million acre national monument Obama declared in December in Utah, Bears Ears, and that he wanted governors and those living near these sites to have the ultimate say over how it’s managed. He singled out several opponents of recent Antiquities Act designations, including Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah and GOP Govs. Gary Herbert of Utah and Paul LePage of Maine, saying, “Today we are putting the states back in charge.”
“I’ve spoken with many state and local leaders, a number of them here today who care very much about preserving our land, and who are gravely concerned about this massive federal land grab.” Trump said.
The order, which appears to affect 25 existing national monuments, it is sure to spark an intense political and legal battle.
Outdoor Industry Association Executive Director Amy Roberts, whose group pulled its major trade show out of Utah in protest of the state government’s opposition to the establishment of the Bears Ears National Monument, said in an interview Tuesday that her members were “concerned” about any effort to alter existing monuments.
“We will participate in that process and make the argument for why these monuments have supported local communities and their economic vitality,” said Roberts.