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President Trump has the power to abolish national monuments set aside by past presidents to protect areas of historical and scientific interest, the Justice Department said in an opinion this week, stating that it could lay the foundations for the demolition of two newest memorials in California, Chuckwalla and Sattila Highlands.
The released legal opinion of May 27th overturns the Department of Justice’s determination for over 80 years that the President cannot revoke the national monument created by their predecessors under ancient law.
The discovery follows the Department of Home Affairs’ efforts to explore the changed monuments as part of a push to expand U.S. energy production.
Just before taking office earlier this year, then-President Biden signed a declaration designating the national monuments of Chuckwalla and Sattila Highlands in the California deserts and far north. The Justice Department said in its new opinion that it was asked to look into whether the ancient law (the 1906 law allows the president to create monuments.”
The opinion entitled “Revoking the designation of previous monuments” states that it is possible.
In the 50-page document, assistant assistant Atty. General Lanola Pettit writes that the president can find that “landmarks,” “structures,” or “objects,” identified in a previous declaration will not no longer be worthy of the protection of the law. And such changes could have the effect of completely eliminating the reservation of land baggage previously associated with the National Monument.
Since its passage, ancient law has been used by 18 presidents who were evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats to designate monuments. California has 21 national monuments more than any other state.
At a hearing Wednesday in Washington, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif) questioned Interior Secretary Doug Burgham about his opinion that he called it “very dangerous.”
He specifically asked what the secretary’s intentions were regarding the latest memorial to Golden State.
“There’s a responsibility and direction to see what’s recently created,” replied Bergham.
“When we create land use restrictions, we have people in our community who limit some of their economic opportunities, and we want to listen to them too,” he said.
Padilla and fellow Senator Adam Schiff were among the federal lawmakers from California who sought the creation of the monument.
“The Trump administration is trying to rewrite ancient law without Congressional approval and erase all precedents banning the removal of land designated as national monuments,” Schiff said in a statement. “And as he continues his attack on the Golden State, the president appears to have at least two California treasures in mind: the Chuckwara and Sattila National Monuments.”
“But the law is clear. Congress had no intention of providing ancient law with bone ry bone law to protect valuable lands and cultural places by empowering ancient Trump or other presidents to reverse the decades of hard work carried out by conservationists, tribal leaders and local California communities,” he added.
Torres Martinez’s Desert Thomas Tortes walks into painted canyons. The area became part of Chuckwara National Monument when it was created in January.
(Tyrone Beason/Los Angeles Times)
Chuckwalla spans 624,000 acres of dramatic canyons and sturdy land adjacent to Southern California’s Joshua Tree National Park. Native Americans led the charges to protect the land they consider sacred.
Critics of how ancient law has been used have put aside the vast areas of land, and point out that monuments are often limited to “the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects being protected.”
However, public land supporters point out that what has long been used by the president has been used by the president, including the 1908 designation of the Grand Canyon by Theodore Roosevelt.
Padilla said the Western states are much more distorted than their eastern counterparts.
John Ressy, a professor emeritus at UC University in San Francisco and a former lawyer for the Department of Home Affairs, considers it a largely symbolic gesture made by the Trump administration on behalf of Republican factions that “hate public lands.”
“I think they’re throwing it away, soothe them and throwing it away to say, ‘We’re by your side,'” he said. “But will it keep them quiet until the president actually takes some action? I don’t know.”
Even before California’s youngest memorial was designated, there was fear that they could be rolled back by the Trump administration.
During his first term, Trump sharply reduced the boundaries of two Utah monuments (bear ears and magnificent staircases and escalante) and stripped him of protection from Marines off the coast of New England to allow commercial fishing. The Biden administration overturned the changes.
In February, Bulgham issued an order that many saw open doors that could eliminate or reduce the monument. He directed his deputy secretary to “amend all withdrawn public lands, if necessary,” citing federal laws corresponding to laws that allow the president to create monuments.
Then, a month later, the Trump administration caused chaos when it issued, appearing to roll back an announcement implying that the president had revoked the orders of his predecessors who created Chuckwara and Sattila.
Last month, a federal lawsuit was filed by a Texas-based conservative think tank on behalf of the plaintiffs, nullifying the Chuck Walla Memorial and claiming that Biden had stepped over his authority when he created it.
Some believe that the new California monument is at the lowest risk of being targeted as part of what Trump might try to undo the actions of his predecessor.
Whether the president has the authority to change the monument is hotly contested. The lawsuit challenging Trump’s previous monument cuts was still pending when Biden reversed them and the issues never resolved.
“The court has never ruled in any way on this issue,” Leshy said. “They are silent about whether one president can revoke another president’s declaration.”
A lawsuit could be sue if Trump moved to cancel the memorial in California.
Krishian Rahaj of the Mohab Desert Land Trust, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting California’s deserts, said his group is trying to raise awareness of Chuckwara’s widespread support.
Sunday marked the 119th anniversary of the ancient law and co-hosted an event that Lahaj said he had drawn over 100 people to celebrate the group. There were off-road tours, geology and wildlife exploration, starry skidding and community barbecues.
“Our goal was to show people all the different things that can be done with a national monument, and that’s what we’re protecting,” he said.
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