On Wednesday, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) aimed at modifying National Monument designations made since 1996. The EO restricts review of such designations to those that encompass at least 100,000 acres of federal land, or deemed to have been designated without state and local support.
Per the EO, the Secretary of the Interior will review the monument designations for consistency with Administration policy regarding federal land use and with the original intentions of the Antiquities Act of 1906, the law that authorizes the President to make such designations. The Secretary will report back to the President within 45 days with suggested actions for each of the monument designation; actions to be considered by the report range from Presidential action, such as revoking or modifying the boundaries of a monument, to Congressional action, such as change in use. Also of importance, the EO instructs the Secretary to work with the Governors of the relevant states, as well as other state, local, and tribal leaders on the modifications of the monuments. Within 120 days, the Secretary must produce a final report. The EO has been expected for weeks, however, many thought the EO would specifically target certain designations for revocation, such as Bear’s Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, both in Utah. However, the EO did not directly target specific monuments. Of the 24 monument designations eligible for review, 5 are in the state of California.