Trump’s proclamations challenge the limits of presidential authority when it comes to managing public lands, with implications that extend far beyond Utah. At the heart of the debate is the Antiquities Act of 1906.
What Is the Antiquities Act?
Unlike national parks, whose designations must be approved by Congress, national monuments are given that status by the sitting president under the Antiquities Act. It was signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906.
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) said that the Antiquities Act has been used by 18 U.S. Presidents to establish 168 protected areas, including marine monuments. President Bill Clinton established Grand Staircase-Escalante in 1996, two decades before Obama established Bears Ears.
While presidents have frequently used the Act to enlarge existing monuments, Trump is the first President since John F. Kennedy to reduce the scale of a monument. Several earlier presidents—including William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy—also reduced monument boundaries. However, Trump’s reductions are unprecedented in scale and may therefore face greater legal scrutiny.
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