The following article by John T. Bennett was posted on the Roll Call website December 4, 2017:
Antiquities Act has primarily been used to increase, not reduce protected areas
President Donald Trump on Monday signed two executive actions that drastically slash the boundaries of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, and criticized former presidents for their use of the Antiquities Act to designate such monuments.
Trump called former President Barack Obama’s designation of Bears Ears an overreach of executive power, even as he unilaterally undid much of the designation himself. President Bill Clinton first designated the Grand Staircase-Escalante national monument in 1996 .
At a speech at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City, Trump vowed to oversee a process that would tamp down on what he sees as abuses of the 1906 Antiquities Act, which presidents since Teddy Roosevelt have used to protect environmentally and culturally significant areas. Continue reading “Trump Reduction of National Monuments a Rare Move”