Report: Trump Administration Considers Attacking Six National Monuments for Energy Development

The Washington Post reported today that the Trump administration is considering an attack on at least six national monuments across the American West to hand over to industry some of America’s most important public lands. The report indicates that the Interior Department is considering illegal boundary reductions and stripped federal protections for Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon, Ironwood Forest, Chuckwalla, Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, which comprise over 5 million acres of public land in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Utah.

A rollback of monument protections would be illegal and would likely trigger litigation. The Antiquities Act of 1906 authorizes presidents to designate national monuments, but it does not give them the power to shrink monuments created by their predecessors or to undercut monument protections. Congress’s intent was clear: the Antiquities Act must only be used to protect the nation’s archaeological, cultural, and scientific wonders.

“An attack on any of these national monuments would be illegal,” said Drew Caputo, vice president of litigation for lands, wildlife, and oceans at Earthjustice. “For the Trump administration to consider handing over our beloved national monuments to industry is both shortsighted and completely unnecessary. There’s a reason Tribes, local communities, and small businesses have fought for decades to protect these places: their cultural and historic significance, combined with their astounding natural beauty and biological value, make them among our most important public lands.”

The first Trump administration tried to strip monument protections from half of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and nearly 90% of Bears Ears National Monument. Earthjustice swiftly filed suit on behalf of conservation groups challenging the administration’s illegal actions. Those lawsuits are currently stayed in district court, as President Biden restored both monuments in 2021.

Last week, the Trump administration also signed a proclamation attempting to open the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument to commercial fishing. The proclamation seeks to allow U.S.-flagged vessels to fish commercially within 50 to 200 nautical miles of the monument’s boundaries.

National monuments generate billions of dollars in economic output from recreation visitors while allowing a wide range of uses, including hiking, horseback riding, rafting, hunting, and fishing. These public lands protections are incredibly popular nationwide. In a recent Conservation in the West poll, 89% of voters opposed reducing or removing national monument protections, including 4 out of 5 self-identified Make America Great Again (MAGA) supporters.