US Justice Department says Trump can cancel national monuments that protect landscapes
Last edited Sun Jun 15, 2025, 09:09 PM - Edit history (1)
By The Associated Press
·Jun. 11, 2025, 11:00 am
The Dolores River Canyon between Nucla and Gateway, July 20, 2024, in Colorado’s West End. A controversial proposal has been submitted to set aside 400,000 acres for a Dolores Canyon National Monument.
By Matthew Brown | AP
Lawyers for President Donald Trump's administration say he has the authority to abolish national monuments meant to protect historical and archaeological sites across broad landscapes, including two in California created by his predecessor at the request of Native American tribes.
A Justice Department legal opinion released Tuesday disavowed a 1938 determination that monuments created by previous presidents under the Antiquities Act can't be revoked. The department said presidents can cancel monument designations if protections aren't warranted.
The finding comes as the Interior Department under Trump weighs changes to monuments across the nation as part of the administration's push to expand U.S. energy production.
Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Natural Resources Committee, said that at Trump's order, “his Justice Department is attempting to clear a path to erase national monuments."
Trump in his first term reduced the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments in Utah, calling them a “massive land grab." He also lifted fishing restrictions within a sprawling marine monument off the New England Coast.
Former President Joe Biden reversed the moves and restored the monuments.
More:
https://www.cpr.org/2025/06/11/trump-canceling-national-monuments-doj-legal-opinion/
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