President Donald Trump’s Justice Department put out a legal opinion that affirms the executive branch has the authority to reverse national monument designations made by past administrations. It’s a decision that is in direct opposition to the current, longstanding interpretation of the Antiquities Act. Many thought this legislation prevented reversals of this nature once monument status was granted.
The president now has the power to undo several national monument designations that were made while former President Joe Biden was in power. One of those designations covers more than 850,000 acres in California’s Chuckwalla and Sattitla Highlands.
With this designation, Biden made them off-limits for energy development, mineral extraction, and other uses which could have benefited our country and our economy. But now Trump can undo this garbage. The winning just keeps on coming.
“The President of the United States is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States to be national monuments, and may reserve as a part thereof parcels of land, the limits of Revocation of Prior Monument Designations which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected,” the opinion said, according to Trending Politics News.
“The Biden administration’s designations were seen by critics as a blow to energy independence and local economies, with opponents arguing that such moves often come at the expense of working-class communities,” the report said, adding, “President Trump has long expressed skepticism toward sweeping federal land protections, especially those enacted without input from local stakeholders. In 2017, he took action to reduce the size of two major national monuments in Utah designated under President Obama.”
“If the President can declare that his predecessor was wrong regarding the value of preserving one such object on a given parcel, there is nothing preventing him from declaring that his predecessor was wrong about all such objects on a given parcel,” the opinion continued.
Designations director of the conservation programs and policy at The Wilderness Society, Axie Navas, is not a fan of the opinion, shredding it by saying, “This is the legal equivalent of throwing a dart at the wall, then painting a bullseye around it.”
“This opinion flies in the face of a century of interpretation of the Antiquities Act. Americans overwhelmingly support our public lands and oppose seeing them dismantled or destroyed, Navas continued.
During Trump’s first term in the White House, there were big shifts in how both national parks and public lands were handled. In 2017, he deducted two big national monuments in Utah — Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante — by 2 million acres combined.
Trump has consistently called for increased energy development efforts on federal land. His administration also opened up spots near Arches, Canyonlands, and the Grand Canyon for oil and gas leasing, along with approving drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
“He argued this would boost jobs and energy independence. But in 2020, Trump signed the Great American Outdoors Act, a rare bipartisan win. It secured $9.5 billion to fix the national parks’ maintenance backlog and permanently funded the Land and Water Conservation Fund at $900 million a year,” the article concluded.
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