Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Thursday provided few details about his review of national monuments, but he expressed clearly his frustration with the process for how monuments are made.
In his executive summary of the review, in which he said he will recommend that President Trump shrink a “handful” of the 27 national monuments he reviewed, he strongly suggested he would seek to change, and limit, the 111-year-old law that gives presidents the power to designate national monuments on land already owned by the federal government.
Since 1906, 16 presidents — eight Democrats and eight Republicans — have unilaterally created more than 100 national monuments using the Antiquities Act, signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt.
The law gives presidents the power to designate national monuments that protect “historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures and other objects of historic or scientific interest.”
The Antiquities Act specifies that national monuments should cover “the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects.”
“No president should use the authority under the act to restrict public access, prevent hunting and fishing, burden private land, or eliminate traditional land uses, unless such action is needed to protect the object,” Zinke said in the two-page executive summary.
“Adherence to the act’s definition of an ‘object’ and ‘smallest area compatible’ clause on some monuments were either arbitrary or likely politically motivated or boundaries could not be supported by science or reasons of practical resource management,” Zinke added.
In recent years, some Republicans have charged that presidents are abusing the Antiquities Act, creating oversized monuments that limit energy development, grazing, timber production, hunting and fishing, and other uses.
They contend that state and local residents are not provided enough input into how public lands near them are used and that presidents have been persuaded by outside advocacy groups to name monuments.
Zinke noted that since 1996, the act has been used by presidents 26 times to create monuments that are 100,000 acres or larger.
The monuments Zinke reviewed were mostly designated by former President Barack Obama, who set aside more federal land for protection than any of his predecessors. But the review also included monuments designated by Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
Leading Republicans in Congress on Thursday said they interpreted Zinke’s commentary about the Antiquities Act as an endorsement for lawmakers to pursue changes to the law.
Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, the chairman of House Natural Resources Committee, told reporters he spoke with Zinke about the monument review and encouraged the Trump administration to work with him to rein in the Antiquities Act.
“The review process has fostered much-needed public dialogue over the purpose, abuse and limitations of the Antiquities Act,” Bishop said. “The Antiquities Act was created for a noble intention tailored for limited circumstances. That intent has clearly been abused by a few presidents for far too long, and that has changed the original intent of the act. Only Congress can permanently affect future abuses.”
Bishop said he plans to introduce legislation after he, and the public, have a chance to review Zinke’s report.
The federal government owns 65 percent of the land in Bishop’s home state of Utah, the second-highest percentage behind Nevada, at 85 percent.
The Interior Department did not immediately make public Zinke’s review of the monuments, although the White House confirmed it received it.
“President Trump has received Secretary Zinke’s draft report for the Antiquities Act, and is currently reviewing his recommendations to determine the best path forward for the American people,” a White House official told the Washington Examiner, declining to say if the administration intends to make the review public.
While past presidents have reduced the boundaries of national monuments, no president has tried to eliminate a monument under the Antiquities Act.
The Antiquities Act does not explicitly say whether a president can overturn or change a monument designation, and the concept has not been tested in court.
Bishop says he is less concerned about undoing previous monuments, many of which have come to attract strong public support, than he is with restricting how presidents can use the Antiquities Act in the future.
“We have to set reasonable limits on the use of the Antiquities Act,” Bishop said. “If the procedure is flawed, the product is going to be flawed. If you control the procedure you can control the outcome. This is not about energy development. This is not about whether we are anti-park. This is about the rule of law.”
But Democrats in Congress and liberal groups predicted a legislative effort by Republicans to curb the Antiquities Act would fail.
“It’s a legislative push that falls well outside the mainstream in Congress and I don’t think you would see much traction on legislation to undermine the Antiquities Act,” Matt Lee-Ashley, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, told the Washington Examiner. “It reflects the reality that conservation in this country has long been a bipartisan issue and when it comes down to protecting land, parks and monuments, it’s something that’s long been supported by the public and will continue to be in the coming years.”
Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said Republicans would be making a mistake by upending more than a hundred years of tradition.
“Teddy Roosevelt would roll over in his grave if he could see what Donald Trump and Ryan Zinke are trying to do to our national treasures today,” Cantwell said in a statement. “The Trump administration is trying to erase over 100 years of conservation and open space for all to enjoy through hunting, fishing and recreating. These special places belong to the people, not to corporate polluters, and I will continue fighting to keep them that way.”
