President Trump on Wednesday will order the Interior Department to review 20 years’ worth of monument designations on federal land across the country.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told reporters he will consider whether monument designations at up to 40 sites should be “rescinded, resized or modified in order to better benefit our public lands.”
The order signals the beginning of a major review of federal land use and monument designations’ impact on employment and land access for industry groups, companies and individuals.
The order will ask Interior to suggest legislative fixes to the 110-year-old Antiquities Act, which gives presidents the power to set aside land for preservation with limited public input or formal review.