Monument

A Monumental Mess: Can President Trump’s Administration Find Legal Ground to Support Its Decision to Modify National Monuments?

A Monumental Mess: Can President Trump’s Administration Find Legal Ground to Support Its Decision to Modify National Monuments?

On Monday, December 4, 2017, President Trump signed presidential proclamations to shrink both the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, resulting in the largest reduction of public-lands protection in the history of our nation. While some have supported the decision, there are many others who have strongly opposed it, bringing an unexplored legal question into the limelight: Does the 1906 Antiquities Act give the president the power to modify or eliminate national monuments, as well as designate?