CRS is deeply disappointed that Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke has recommended that the Trump Administration dramatically shrink protections for some of our nation’s cherished national monuments. Secretary Zinke confirmed that he recommended rollbacks in a report to President Trump, but the administration has thus far kept the details shrouded in secrecy. “This outcome seems to have been baked in from the start,” said CRS President David Jenkins. “How else can one explain a decision that defies consensus legal opinion and ignores the clear wishes of more than 99 percent of Americans who submitted comments?” According to press reports, Zinke has recommended slashing at least four national monuments. Two of these are in Utah, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is reported to also be on that list. Such rollbacks of national monuments are unprecedented, and according to a broad consensus of legal experts, illegal. This includes legal opinions from conservative consultants that advised the Trump transition team. One such opinion points out: “Congress intended the Antiquities Act to be used as a ‘one-way’ authority to create and expand monuments, not abolish or diminish them in size.” It went on to note that Congress reaffirmed this by passing the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA), which stipulates that only Congress has authority to modify and revoke national monuments created under the Antiquities Act. The administration has allowed the opinions of a few disgruntled special interests and their pals in Congress to trump the opinions of most Americans—and the best interests of communities that benefit from our national monuments. When the details come out, it...
When the official comment period ended on July 10 for the Trump Administration’s review of 27 national monuments–the product of an executive order issued by the president that threatens to roll back many of them–more than 2.7 million people of all political stripes made their voices heard by submitting comments expressing support for America’s national monuments. That represents over 98 percent of all comments received. CRS President David Jenkins had this to say: “National monuments are a Republican idea stretching back to the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. That ethic of safeguarding America’s natural heritage is patriotic, conservative, and more popular than ever. If Secretary Zinke has been honest about his desire to build trust and listen to the public, then he should no doubt heed the overwhelming support expressed for those monuments under review by the more than two million Americans who submitted comments.” Kudos to all of the CRS members who took the time to make their voice...
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has submitted a report to President Trump recommending a significant reduction in the protected public acreage of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship (CRS) issued the following statement from President David Jenkins: “As an organization that applauded the selection of Zinke as Interior Secretary, we are deeply disappointed that in his first major decision he chose to roll back protection for Bears Ears National Monument. In doing so, Secretary Zinke is abandoning the Theodore Roosevelt conservation ethic he professes, choosing instead to side with radical anti-public land zealots who seek to exploit rather than conserve.” In writing this report, Secretary Zinke completely ignored public opinion. More than 96 percent of the public comments received so far favor keeping all of our national monuments intact and fully protected, and 88 percent of the comments from Utah support keeping the Bears Ears monument as is. Apparently the only voices that matter are the radical public land opponents in the Utah delegation and a few like-minded local officials. In his statement, Jenkins also pointed out: “Bears Ears, with its incredible natural and cultural wealth, is exactly the kind of place the Antiquities Act was enacted to protect. That is why the overwhelming number of Americans commenting on the Trump ordered review asked Zinke to keep the monument fully protected—a fact that Secretary Zinke chose to ignore in his report.” “National Monument protection is a Republican idea, and one that has long been embraced by genuine and thoughtful conservatives because it places America’s long-term national interests above short-sighted parochial ones.” “President Reagan, as he so often did,...
President Trump has just signed an unprecedented executive order instructing the Department of Interior to review the national monument designations of past presidents stretching back 21 years. The intent, according to Vice President Pence, is to “begin to undo” these designations. Never before in the 111-year history of President Theodore Roosevelt’s Antiquities Act, the law that authorizes the creation of national monuments, have we seen such a radical attack on this visionary protection of America’s natural and cultural heritage. In response, CRS president David Jenkins said, “At the heart of the word conservation is the word conserve which is also the root word of conservative. The Antiquities Act is a conservative idea that was brought forth by a Republican Congressman, passed a Republican Congress and was signed into law by a Republican, President Theodore Roosevelt. President Trump and Secretary Zinke should continue this tradition and conserve the Antiquities Act and all of our nation’s monument designations as they are an important part of our nation’s history and culture.” Please use our CRS Action Center link below to urge Secretary Zinke to keep all of America’s national monuments intact. A Threat to America’s...
Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship (CRS) applauds the designation of Bears Ears and Gold Butte National Monuments. The President’s use of the Antiquities Act was entirely appropriate and in keeping with the Act’s original intent. Affording these public lands extra protection is genuinely conservative, and that is true irrespective of which president makes the designations. “Bears Ears and Gold Butte are both rich in natural and cultural treasures that need to be protected from existing threats, they are exactly the type of places Theodore Roosevelt’s Antiquities Act was designed to protect,” said CRS President David Jenkins. “Whether looting, vandalism, or a host of other illegal activities, the threats to these important parts of America’s heritage are ongoing and serious. Preserving them is, as President Reagan would say, our great moral responsibility,” Jenkins added. It is important to point out that the Antiquities Act, which gives the president authority to proclaim monuments, is a Republican invention. It was crafted by a conservative Republican, passed by a Republican Congress and signed into law by Republican, President Theodore Roosevelt. Recognizing that Congress was often incapable of acting quickly enough to protect artifacts or natural areas from threats, those Republicans gave the president authority to safeguard these places through monument designation. “Congressman, and notorious monument opponent, Rob Bishop and his cohorts in the Utah delegation are pitching a fit about these designations—especially Bears Ears—as expected, but these are the same radical folks who want America to give away its public lands, and who are hell-bent on totally upending the Theodore Roosevelt conservation ethic that has served our nation well for more than a century,”...
Republican presidents—including Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan—have a long tradition of contributing to our great natural endowment of parks, forests, wildlife refuges, national monuments, and other public lands. They understood that these lands, your lands, are an essential part of who we are as a people, and that protecting them is both conservative and patriotic. To help make sure that tradition continues, CRS has launched a campaign urging President-elect Donald Trump to also make safeguarding America’s public lands a top priority. To find out more, please visit our campaign...
