A Creosote bush used as a Christmas Tree for the 1962-1963 Big Dig stands at Tule Springs State Park where 20,000 year old animal fossils were found in 2011, on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017, in Las Vegas.
During the review, the Interior Department can suggest that monuments be resized, revoked, or left alone, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said at a briefing on Tuesday.
President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday calling into question the future of two dozen national monuments proclaimed by the last three presidents to set aside millions of acres from development.
It was yet another executive action from a president trying to rack up accomplishments before his first 100 days in office, with Saturday marking that milestone. The Antiquities Act does not give the president explicit power to undo a designation and no president has ever taken such a step. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev. Nor does it loosen any environmental or conservation regulation on any land or marine areas, Zinke said. Mr Trump singled out former President Barack Obama's "egregious" use of federal power in using the Antiquities Act to "unilaterally" place swaths of American land and water under federal control, adding, "it's time we ended this abusive practice".
A leading member of the American Indian coalition backing the monument said the administration can expect a battle if it tries to rescind Bears Ears' monument protection.
Many of these bills - none of which have gone anywhere in congress - were sponsored or supported by Utah's congressional delegation, who have been the loudest voices lobbying Trump to act, in large part due to their displeasure over the Bears Ears National Monument, which President Obama created after years of negotiations and public outreach.
Republican critics of Bears Ears have called for the federal designation to be rescinded and for the land to be given back to the state.
Reid and Titus urged Obama to declare 704,000 acres in Lincoln and Nye counties as the Basin and Range National Monument in 2015.
That declaration was criticized by proponents of the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository because the national monument cut off a possible rail route for transportation of waste through Utah.
Canada is not the challenge for United States dairy, Trudeau says
Ironically, Trump's comments came only hours after Trudeau praised the president's willingness to listen to reason. The free trade accord slashed a slew of tariffs but left many dairy industry tariffs in place.
On Wednesday, Trump will reportedly sign the "Executive Order for a Review of Designations under the Antiquities Act", Axios reported. He told Cortez Masto he would visit Nevada and talk to stakeholders before completing his review.
Maine Gov. Paul LePage had asked Trump in February to reverse the Maine designation and said Monday that he plans to travel to Washington next week to testify against it.
Zinke said the broader aim of the order is to give states more input in monument designations.
"And it's easy to see why designations in some cases are viewed negatively by those local communities that are impacted the most".
"This is a review", he said.
Mr Obama placed 553 million acres under national monument protection during his presidency - more than any other USA president.
The Waco City Council voted in April 2015 to turn five acres of the site and the excavated remains over to the federal government, leaving just more than 100 acres as city property, but as administrative land in the national park system.
SIEGLER: And, Ari, I think the big point here is that this is potentially untested territory if in fact the executive branch, the administration goes forward on its own without the authority of Congress to either nullify or abolish a national monument or even shrink one.
Not all of the economic arguments are being made against monuments. And then you had the Gold Butte Monument designation in Nevada which is near - adjacent to Cliven Bundy's ranch.
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