March 20, 2024 — On March 22, the Supreme Court will consider acting on a constitutional challenge to what is among the most misunderstood and abused federal land statutes: the Antiquities Act of 1906. If the Supreme Court does not act on American Forest Resource Council v. United States of America, it will green-light a vast expansion of executive power over all federal lands, waters, and natural resources, ultimately putting their fate in the hands of one person: the president.
Passed during President Theodore Roosevelt’s second term, the Antiquities Act gave presidents authority to declare “historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States to be national monuments . . . which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects to be protected.”
The original purpose of the Antiquities Act was to protect archaeological sites, or “antiquities,” and other specific, definable objects and landscapes in federal ownership at risk of theft or desecration. Four months after the passage of the Antiquities Act, President Roosevelt declared Wyoming’s Devils Tower our first national monument. The designated area covered 1,304 acres.
Yet, over the last century, presidents have expanded the use of the Antiquities Act to make its original purpose and intent unrecognizable. For example, President Obama issued 34 monument proclamations directing the management of over 550 million acres of federal lands, waters, and resources.
Read the article at The National Review