On April 26, President Trump signed an executive order instructing the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a review of all National Monuments over 100,000 acres created since 1996. His concern is that previous Presidents use of the Antiquities Act overstepped their authority when declaring National Monuments such as Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears. There is a public comment period open now but will end soon.
The image above by Mason Cummings is from the Cedar Mesa in Bears Ears National Monument and is just an example of the beautiful wilderness areas these protected Monuments were created for. Protected for now however since the intent of the review is to potentially rescind their protected status and open them up to development, oil exploration and mining. Some local politicians were very upset when these lands were set aside as National Monuments citing the loss of potential grazing and other development opportunities. This was all Federal property before the designation so it’s not like they were taken from the States when they were declared a National Monument. It was Federal land before and it’s Federal land after. It just has additional protection now as to what can be done on that land.
16 Presidents since Teddy Roosevelt have used the Antiquities Act to set aside federal land as National Wilderness areas. Many were later upgraded to National Parks such as the Grand Canyon. No president has ever rescinded one of these declarations. There is serious doubt within the legal community whether a president even has the authority to do it. Only Congress has that authority today. Regardless of political preferences, most people are in favor of protecting our wilderness areas. The ones against are those that want to use them for something else. Typically commercial interests.
Bears Ears is an interesting case in that 5 native American tribes joined together for over six years to lobby the government to declare it a National Monument because of its historical significance to them. Over 100,000 archaeological sites have been discovered with Native American artifacts that the Tribes want protected. President Obama finally signed the executive order in December of 2016. It’s now become the bulls eye for this new executive order to review these monuments as they’ve only given it until May 26 for public comments. All the rest of the monuments are open for public comment until July. Outdoors groups, Tribal Leaders, Environmentalists and many others are all in favor of keeping these wilderness areas protected as National Monuments. Most elected politicians in Utah for example are against. They have been heavily pressured by ranchers and commercial interests to open up these lands.
Public opinion is important and you can add your voice to the many working hard to protect these National treasures. I have added a link below where you can submit your opinion to the Secretary of the Interior on Bears Ears and the rest of the monuments up for review. There are 27 in total. Once at the government website, just click on the “comment now” box at the top right of the page and add a few words in the opinion box. Then enter your name and address to make your voice be heard.
Click here for the Dept. of Interior opinion site
From the Dept. of Interior’s web site, the list of the monuments under review are:
| Monument | Location | Year(s) | Acreage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basin and Range | Nevada | 2015 | 703,585 |
| Bears Ears | Utah | 2016 | 1,353,000 |
| Berryessa Snow Mountain | California | 2015 | 330,780 |
| Canyons of the Ancients | Colorado | 2000 | 175,160 |
| Carrizo Plain | California | 2001 | 204,107 |
| Cascade Siskiyou | Oregon | 2000/2017 | 100,000 |
| Craters of the Moon | Idaho | 1924/2000 | 737,525 |
| Giant Sequoia | California | 2000 | 327,760 |
| Gold Butte | Nevada | 2016 | 296,937 |
| Grand Canyon-Parashant | Arizona | 2000 | 1,014,000 |
| Grand Staircase-Escalante | Utah | 1996 | 1,700,000 |
| Hanford Reach | Washington | 2000 | 194,450.93 |
| Ironwood Forest | Arizona | 2000 | 128,917 |
| Mojave Trails | California | 2016 | 1,600,000 |
| Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks | New Mexico | 2014 | 496,330 |
| Rio Grande del Norte | New Mexico | 2013 | 242,555 |
| Sand to Snow | California | 2016 | 154,000 |
| San Gabriel Mountains | California | 2014 | 346,177 |
| Sonoran Desert | Arizona | 2001 | 486,149 |
| Upper Missouri River Breaks | Montana | 2001 | 377,346 |
| Vermilion Cliffs | Arizona | 2000 | 279,568 |
| Katahadin Woods and Waters | Maine | 2016 | 87,563 |
| Marianas Trench | CNMI/Pacific Ocean | 2009 | 60,938,240 |
| Northeast Canyons and Seamounts | Atlantic Ocean | 2016 | 3,114,320 |
| Pacific Remote Islands | Pacific Ocean | 2009 | 55,608,320 |
| Papahanaumokuakea | Hawaii | 2006/2016 | 89,600,000 |
| Rose Atoll | American Samoa | 2009 | 8,609,045 |
That’s a pretty lengthy list of our wilderness areas being reviewed and potentially opened up for commercial use. Please take a few minutes and voice your opinion on the Dept. of Interior’s public opinion web site. Share this with your friends and encourage them to do the same. It’s important and time is short. May 26 is the deadline for comments on Bears Ears.
I’ll leave you with a well done presentation from Patagonia on Bears Ears. It’s worth a look.
