Conservation Lands Foundation Says House Bill Attacking National Monument Creation Insult to America’s Legacy and Threat to Public’s Access to Public Lands

Conservation Lands Foundation
|January 16, 2025
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Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Representatives Mark Amodei of Nevada and Celeste Maloy of Utah introduced the Ending Presidential Overreach on Public Lands Act, legislation that would eliminate the Antiquities Act and the power of Presidents of the United States to designate national monuments that protect our natural resources and cultural heritage.

Below is a statement from Chris Hill, Chief Executive Officer of the Conservation Lands Foundation, in response to the introduction of this legislation:

“This legislation is a direct attack on the rights of Americans to their public lands and the bedrock law that ensures the country’s most treasured natural, cultural, historical, and recreational landscapes can be protected from irreversible development and destruction.

“America’s public lands system is an American political success story and this legislation is out of step with their constituents and a large majority from across the political spectrum who love public lands and have benefitted from designations of national monuments through the Antiquities Act.

“We have Republican President Harding’s use of the Antiquities Act in 1922 to thank for establishing what is now Great Basin National Park in Rep. Amodei’s district. In Rep. Maloy’s district, polling shows 74% of Utahns support Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and 3-in-4 voters in her state support a presidents’ ability to protect public lands as national monuments.

“Allowing people in temporary positions to make permanent decisions of this significance for the future of the American people is dangerous and I urge Congress to reject this legislation and to ensure that the bedrock laws that protect America’s public lands remain intact for the benefit of all Americans today, tomorrow, and for generations to come.

“Congress already has the authority to designate or revoke national monuments, making the intent of this legislation crystal clear: to take away an essential conservation tool from the Executive Branch that presidents from both parties have used for more than a century when Congress has failed to act with due speed. It’s the kind of checks and balances our Constitution is founded on.”

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About Conservation Lands Foundation
We’re the only nonprofit leading a national movement of community-based advocates who care for America’s NATIONAL CONSERVATION LANDS of natural, historical, cultural and recreational significance.
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    Conservation Lands Foundation published this page in Latest News 2025-01-16 15:07:43 -0700
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