www.eenews.net/...
In a move that is certain to be challenged and overturned in court, Interior Secretary Zinke has told Utah officials that he will recommend repealing Bears Ears National monument in its entirety. the 1.35M acre monument was created in December by then-president Obama, its size was a compromise, being 50000 acres smaller than the conservation area proposed in the Public Land Initiative, and 550000 acres smaller than the proposal of the Native coalition. No president has ever overturned a monument created by his predecessors, findings by the AGs of both FDR and Bush 43 concluded that the president does not have that authority.
Nor does the Interior Secretary. Congress repealed any authority to undo monuments by the Interior Secretary in 1976 when it passed the Federal Land management and Policy Act, by reserving the ability to shrink and undo monuments to Congress alone, Congress eliminated any implied ability of the president to undo monuments or shrink them, the last shrinking of a monument by a president happened during Lyndon Johnson’s tenure in the 1960s. Zinke’s move is not surprising, given the wide scope of Trump ‘ review”, the executive order was a clear attempt to undo as much of Obama and Clinton’s conservation legacies as possible. The only good to come out of this, is that when the courts uphold the monuments as valid, and rule against the president, it will prevent future presidents from trying what Trump is trying to do. Once created, only Congress may undo monumenmts