Monument Debate

GOP reps. seek to end president's national monument authority

Republican Representatives Celeste Maloy (R-Utah) and Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) have introduced the Ending Presidential Overreach on Public Lands Act to transfer the power to designate national monuments from the president to Congress. The bill targets the Antiquities Act of 1906, which has been used to protect landmarks such as Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Chuckwalla, and Sáttítla Highlands. Environmental and tribal groups warn this change could jeopardize protections for sacred and historic sites.