In a move anticipated by conservationists, the new head of the nation’s Interior Department has called for the review of national monuments and mining protections issued under past presidential administrations.
Doug Burgum, whom the Senate confirmed Thursday to lead the agency, issued a secretarial order late Monday that appears to eye such a review, which President Donald Trump conducted in his previous administration, as well. The Trump administration’s review during his first term resulted in the reduction of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah — a change later overturned by then-President Joe Biden.
Though the order doesn’t plainly use the words “national monument” or “mineral withdrawal,” it instructs assistant secretaries to “review and, as appropriate, revise all withdrawn public lands, consistent with existing law,” specifically listing the law that gives presidents the power to designate national monuments and withdraw them from mineral development.
“We are committed to working collaboratively to unlock America’s full potential in energy dominance and economic development,” said Burgum, the former governor of North Dakota. “Together, we will ensure that our policies reflect the needs of our communities, respect tribal sovereignty, and drive innovation that will keep the U.S. at the forefront of energy and environmental leadership.”
The Antiquities Act of 1906 affords the president latitude to create national monuments, though Republicans as of late have criticized designations as a clear attempt at block mining, oil and gas development.
U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., was one of two legislators who took aim at the president’s power to designate national monuments via the Antiquities Act, sponsoring a bill last month that would require Congress’ consent before any new designations are made.
Avi Kwa Ame in peril?
A potential review could have wide-reaching impacts for Nevada, where Biden created a national monument out of Avi Kwa Ame, a more than 500,000-acre site holy to Yuman-speaking Native American tribes.
Though a popular decision among tribes, the town of Searchlight and others, the decision did draw the ire of Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who called it a “federal confiscation” of land and a “historic mistake.”
Monday’s order doesn’t bode well for Nevada’s pending national monument campaign near Ely, where a coalition of tribes is waiting for the federal government to recognize the site of a massacre known as Bahsahwahbee, or Swamp Cedars.
It’s an open question whether a sitting president has the power to undo previous national monument designations, Bret Birdsong, a UNLV law professor who served in the Obama administration’s Interior Department, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in December.
Conservation groups launched a lawsuit against Trump’s decision during his first term, but it stalled when Biden reversed the action in 2021.
“The legality of the revocation is another question,” Birdsong said in an interview. “His playbook last time was not to outright revoke any monuments, but just to shrink them down. That was grounded in some language in the act.”
Conservationists up in arms
Some fired back at the decision from the new Trump administration, including the Center for Western Priorities, a nonpartisan organization that advocates for conservation.
The organization pointed to a Colorado College poll that found that 85 percent of Western voters support the creation of new national parks, national monuments, national wildlife refuges and tribal protected areas.
“The last time Trump attempted to shrink national monuments, his efforts were met with near-universal condemnation,” Executive Director Jennifer Rokala said in a statement. “They should stop now, before they upset millions of Westerners by illegally reducing or eliminating national monuments. Voters want national monuments protected in perpetuity, not opened for drilling and mining.”
Interior Department staff members have 15 days to submit a plan for opening federal lands to more mining.
Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.