Utah
What’s in Trump’s Proclamations on Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments
An analysis of the new proclamations and the legal issues they raise
On Monday, President Trump signed two proclamations, downsizing the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah. These two proclamations are the first official acts by Trump to implement the recommendations from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s national monuments review this summer. (Zinke’s final report and recommendations were just made public yesterday. In a short …
CONTINUE READINGPresident Trump’s national monument rollback is illegal and likely to be reversed in court
Authored by Nicholas Bryner, Eric Biber, Mark Squillace, and Sean B. Hecht
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Supporters of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments during a rally Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017 in Salt Lake City. AP Photo/Rick Bowmer On Dec. 4, President Trump traveled to Utah to sign proclamations downsizing Bears Ears National Monument by 85 percent …
CONTINUE READINGNational Monuments Update
Interior Department releases interim report, recommends changes to Bears Ears National Monument
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke released his interim report yesterday on Bears Ears National Monument, recommending that President Trump re-draw the monument’s boundaries. Secretary Zinke’s report misreads both the Antiquities Act and President Obama’s 2016 Proclamation that created Bears Ears National Monument, and any move by President Trump to downsize the monument without an act of Congress …
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CONTINUE READINGNational Monuments Under Trump
Does the Antiquities Act give the President the authority to revoke national monument designations?
Debate on the Antiquities Act continues in the early months of the Trump Administration. Opponents of Obama’s recently-proclaimed Bears Ears National Monument (see earlier post) have pushed for Trump to revoke or significantly alter the designation, fueling debate as to whether a president has the authority under the Antiquities Act to do so. By way …
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CONTINUE READINGSagebrush rebellion, version 3.1
Some things never seem to change, including the (interior) West’s frustration over the extensive federal land holdings in the region. If you’re old enough, you might recall the Sagebrush Rebellion, which peaked about 1980 with the election of Ronald Reagan, a self-declared sagebrush rebel. (If you want to bone up, the Forest History Society offers …
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CONTINUE READINGDeja vu all over again
Remember the Sagebrush Rebellion and the County Supremacy Movement? They were attempts in the 1970s-80s and 1990s, respectively, by state and local governments in the west to assert control over federal lands. They didn’t make any legal progress because of the pesky Supremacy and Property Clauses of the US Constitution, which declare that the federal …
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