Utah Monuments Downsized
Elected leaders in western, Republican-leaning states have long argued that Democratic Presidents create large national monuments shortly before elections or on their way out the door as a trophy for environmental special interests. That Republican frustration has spilled over to Republican administrations that then do nothing to reduce the size or restrictive management of the monuments. Again proving he is unlike any President before him, Donald Trump flew into Utah today to reduce the size of two national monuments and open up uses of the remaining monument land to grazing, motorized use, and wood gathering.
President Trump reduced the Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument (created shortly before the 1996 general election by President Clinton) from 1.9 million acres to just over 1 million acres (a 47% reduction), splitting the large monument into three smaller monuments: Grand Staircase, Kaiparowits, and Escalante Canyons National Monuments. Trump also reduced the Bears Ears Monument (created by President Obama in 2016 days before leaving the White House) from 1.35 million acres to 202,000 acres (an 85% reduction), likewise splitting the large monument into two smaller monuments: Indian Creek and Shash Jaa National Monuments.
In the Capitol Rotunda on Monday, Utah’s Republican political leadership greeted the announcement enthusiastically, reflecting the sentiment of a majority of Utahns who wanted the size of the monuments to be reduced. Outside the Capitol protestors decried the reduction, arguing that the released lands would be destroyed by development.
In announcing the change, both President Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke stated that the action was taken to address federal overreach and abuse of the 1906 Antiquities Act. The Antiquities Act allows presidents broad authority to create monuments to protect landmarks, structures and object. Though the Act states that the President’s authority “shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects to be protected,” federal courts have never balked at the size of a monument. Read a brief history of Utah public lands here.
All released lands will continue to be owned and managed by the federal government. Secretary Zinke stated that the released lands would revert to the management status they had prior to creation of the monuments: BLM or Forest Service multiple use or wilderness.
The Utah Bee will monitor (1) lawsuits that challenge the new proclamations and (2) any efforts by Utah’s congressional delegation to limit the reach of the Antiquities Act in the future. After the 1943 creation of Jackson Hole National Monument, the Antiquities Act was amended to require congressional consent to use of the Antiquities Act for creation or enlargement of a national monument in Wyoming. After the 1980 creation of 56-million acres of national monuments in Alaska, the Antiquities Act was amended to require congressional consent for creation of monuments larger than 5,000 acres in Alaska.