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Colorado leaders warily await Trump’s order Wednesday to review national monuments

By Joey Bunch 04/25/2017 | updated 8 years ago

President Trump is expected to sign an executive order Wednesday to take another look at every national monument designated since the middle of the Clinton administration, and that means three in Colorado are on the list.

The Antiquities Act of 1906 allows the president to set aside important assets from drilling, mining and development.

Trump’s review would include:

Trump’s move represents a frightening possibility to Conservation Colorado, the state’s largest environmental group.

“With this review, the Trump administration has launched an attack on Colorado’s heritage and the iconic public lands that are critical to our economy and way of life,” said Scott Braden, the organization’s wilderness and public lands advocate.

“The fact that federal bureaucrats are attempting to overturn protections for our lands is deeply offensive to those of us who live in the Colorado and the West.”

Trump’s order is expected to instruct the Interior Department to review every designation since President Clinton created Utah’s 1.9 million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument in 1996.

The political fracas is based just outside Colorado, as Republican leaders  seek to reverse President Obama’s designation of of the 1.35 million-acre Bears Ears Monument in the Four Corners region of southeast Utah in December.

That land is sacred to Ute tribes, said Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, who is pushing back against the Trump administration on national monuments.

“I will oppose any effort to dismantle the Antiquities Act,” Bennet said in a statement released Tuesday. “This is yet another example of Washington thinking it knows what’s best for Western communities. In Colorado, we made the case for national monument designations with thorough consultation and strong, bipartisan local support. Coloradans treasure public lands, which help drive our state’s thriving outdoor economy. Protecting these lands is a critical part of the legacy we pass onto future generations.”

No president has ever revoked a national monument designation, and legal sources question whether Trump has the authority to do so under the Constitution.

President Obama was the most prolific monument designator or any president, creating or expanding 34. His predecessor, George W. Bush, by comparison, designated six.

The Washington Times reported Monday:

“Mr. Obama set a record for the most land and sea set aside as national monuments, taking presidential authority under the century-old Antiquities Act to new levels. And by cordoning off those huge swaths, he shut them down to energy development and other activities.

“Bears Ears was especially controversial. Not only did it come during the last month of Mr. Obama’s tenure, but the designation was made over the objections of many Utah lawmakers.”

Joey Bunch

Reporter

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