Protections for 27 national monuments may be curtailed, cut

[Beartracks]

Twenty-seven national monuments, mostly in the West, face the curtailing or elimination of protections put in place over the past two decades by presidents from both parties, the Interior Department said. President Donald Trump ordered the review last month, saying protections imposed by his three immediate predecessors amounted to "a massive federal land grab" that "should never have happened."
...

Bush, Obama and Bill Clinton were among a host of presidents who protected hundreds of millions of acres under a 1906 law that authorizes the president to declare federal lands and waters as monuments and restrict their use. Trump said the protections imposed by his predecessors "unilaterally put millions of acres of land and water under strict federal control, eliminating the ability of the people who actually live in those states to decide how best to use that land."
...

Trump accused Obama in particular of exploiting the 1906 Antiquities Act in an "egregious abuse of federal power," adding that he was giving power "back to the states and to the people, where it belongs."
...

Republicans in (Utah) asked Trump to take the unusual step of reversing Obama’s decision (creating Bears Ears National Monument). They said the monument designation will stymie growth by closing the area to new commercial and energy development. The Antiquities Act does not give the president explicit power to undo a designation and no president has ever taken such a step.


More: https://www.apnews.com/236bfc213f534320ba87089c01ce45c8/Protections-for-27-national-monuments-may-be-curtailed,-cut

[Nevernose]

1. Our only real hope here is the courts

And I don't have too much hope there. At the very least, by the time this inevitable case makes it to SCOTUS, maybe the new administration and/or congress will have done something bout this completely delusional attempt at circumventing the law.

Maybe our blue 2018 congress (fingers crossed) can just make the Antiquities Law much, much stronger and authoritative.

Trump is doing, has done, and will do a lot of terrible shit, but this messing with national monuments thing might be my personal line in the sand. Beyond "protesting" and becoming just plain pissed. Weird.

[Sunlei]

2. Utah, no one wants your tarsands except 3rd world countries that depend on Kerosene fuels

quit taking advantage of other countries.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

3. Public comments start May 12th and can be made HERE --

https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-releases-list-monuments-under-review-announces-first-ever-formal