Back in June, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland recommended that President Biden restore the boundaries of three national monuments: Grand Staircase-Escalante, designated by President Bill Clinton in 1996; Bears Ears, designated by President Barack Obama in 2016; and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts, the nation’s first marine national monument, also designated by Obama in 2016. Donald Trump had significantly reduced their boundaries after assuming office, a move that prompted several lawsuits that are still working their way through the courts.
Most legal authorities who have weighed in on the subject assert that the move to shrink the monuments was done contrary to the statute that makes downsizing monuments or disestablishing one altogether the responsibility of Congress.
Last week, citing their respectful patience so far, representatives of the five-tribe Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition that played a major part in getting Bears Ears in southeastern Utah designated a national monument, sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking for “immediate action” on Haaland’s recommendation for the monument. An excerpt :
The coalition letter also notes that hard rock mining claims are continuing within the original boundaries of Bears Ears. The delay in taking action, it states, means real harm, some of it permanent, is taking place right now.
When Haaland made her recommendations three months ago, I wrote:
President Biden has a lot on his plate. But following the request of the tribal coalition to act on Haaland’s recommendations requires no maneuvering through congressional obstacles, or airlifting refugees, or figuring out the complexities of immigration policy. It can be accomplished with a simple executive order, the procedure set up by the 115-year-old Antiquities Act, reinforced and clarified by the Federal Land Policy Act of 1976. There’s no reason for the continued delay.
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You can support immediate action by signing this petition of the Grand Canyon Trust. A hard copy letter to President Biden would also be valuable.
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Below is the entire letter from the tribal coalition. A more readable version can be viewed here.
Most legal authorities who have weighed in on the subject assert that the move to shrink the monuments was done contrary to the statute that makes downsizing monuments or disestablishing one altogether the responsibility of Congress.
Last week, citing their respectful patience so far, representatives of the five-tribe Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition that played a major part in getting Bears Ears in southeastern Utah designated a national monument, sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking for “immediate action” on Haaland’s recommendation for the monument. An excerpt :
The coalition letter also notes that hard rock mining claims are continuing within the original boundaries of Bears Ears. The delay in taking action, it states, means real harm, some of it permanent, is taking place right now.
When Haaland made her recommendations three months ago, I wrote:
Shortly before he left office, Obama established the 1.35 million-acre monument under the Antiquities Act of 1906, fulfilling the decades-old dreams of American Indians and environmental advocates like the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) to gain government protection for the natural beauty of this red-rock land, the plants and creatures living on it, tens of thousands of Native artifacts and petroglyphs dating back millennia, and sites sacred to the five tribes who worked in coalition with environmental organizations and politicians to make Bears Ears a reality.
The outline shows original boundaries of the two Utah monuments, with the shaded version showing what was left after Trump took the ax to them.
Intent on smashing anything Obama did, a year later Trump, in December 2017, shrank Bears Ears by 85% and cut the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument established by Clinton by almost half. Three lawsuits against the move were immediately filed by tribal, conservation, and paleontology groups to challenge the constitutionality of Trump’s action. With that litigation still working its way through the courts, in February 2020 the Trump regime implemented management plans that opened these lands previously off-limits to energy development, including mining and drilling.
President Biden has a lot on his plate. But following the request of the tribal coalition to act on Haaland’s recommendations requires no maneuvering through congressional obstacles, or airlifting refugees, or figuring out the complexities of immigration policy. It can be accomplished with a simple executive order, the procedure set up by the 115-year-old Antiquities Act, reinforced and clarified by the Federal Land Policy Act of 1976. There’s no reason for the continued delay.
***********
You can support immediate action by signing this petition of the Grand Canyon Trust. A hard copy letter to President Biden would also be valuable.
***********
Below is the entire letter from the tribal coalition. A more readable version can be viewed here.