President Donald Trump The White House confirmed on Saturday plans to revoke designation of two large national monuments in California that were created by ex-president Joe Biden.
Just days before departing from his position of power, Biden signed proclamations Creating the 624,000-acre Chuckwalla National Monument in Southern California and the 224,000-acre Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in Northern California. Indigenous tribes who view these areas as sacred locations have encouraged President Biden to prohibit drilling, mining, renewable energy projects, and other forms of industrial activity within their boundaries.
The intention to revoke the proclamments, initially disclosed by The New York Times, highlights Trump’s efforts to dismantlement various initiatives. Biden’s sweeping environmental legacy This week, the Environmental Protection Agency started the procedure of reversing Biden’s most significant environmental policies, including regulations targeted at accelerating the country's transition to electric vehicles and cutting back on greenhouse gases produced by power stations .
During his initial term, Trump considerably reduced two national monuments In Utah, he reduced over 1.9 million acres of protected land. Bears Ears And the Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments — renowned for their breathtaking desert landscapes and abundance of Native American relics.
It remains uncertain whether Trump possesses the power to completely revoke these proclamments. The Antiquities Act from 1906 empowers the president to safeguard land and water resources for the advantage of all U.S. citizens through actions like setting up or enlarging national monuments. However, this legislation does not specify if presidents have the ability to rescind such designations without obtaining consent from Congress.
Adding to the complexity, a White House aide fact sheet Released on Friday evening stated that Trump had issued an executive order "ending proclamations designating almost a million acres as new national monuments, which restrict extensive areas of land for economic growth and energy extraction." However, by Saturday afternoon, this sentence was removed from the official document.
The White House failed to reply to requests seeking further explanation.
The Chuckwalla National Monument is located southeast of Joshua Tree National Park , ranking as the ninth most visited national park in 2023, drawing over 3.2 million visitors that year, according to data from the National Park Service.
The Sáttítla National Monument includes the Medicine Lake Highlands region located to the northeast of Mount Shasta volcano. This zone is frequently referred to as the headwaters of California due to its significant function in providing pure water sourced from volcanic aquifers to various communities statewide, particularly benefiting agricultural lands further downriver.
Biden utilized his executive powers granted by the Antiquities Act to establish 10 new national monuments and enlarge four existing ones. In a single term, he safeguarded more publicly owned land areas than any previous president, except for one. Jimmy Carter .
The interior secretary and energy advisor under Trump, Doug Burgum Recently, an evaluation was carried out to determine if the borders of any national monuments should be modified. Although the review ended on February 18th, the findings have yet to be released publicly.