Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke this week challenging the Trump administration’s review of National Monuments established under previous presidential administrations. The letter cites the limitations of the executive branch as explicitly outlined in the Antiquities Act. Zinke will be in Oregon this week touring the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.
“As you review the vibrant landscape within the Cascade-Siskiyou region, I know that you and the President will share our desire to preserve it for future generations,” writes Rosenblum. “However, if the President attempts instead to revoke or reduce the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, we stand ready to take appropriate legal action.”
As part of the review ordered by the Trump administration, Zinke invited the public to comment on National Monument designations. The comment period closed on Monday and garnered over 2.7 million comments from the public. Analysis of these comments has indicated that 99% of these comments support monument designations. Despite widespread public support, Zinke recommended shrinking the first monument under review – Bears Ears National Monument in Utah – after convening closed meetings with industry representatives and Utah officials, reportedly in violation of that state’s open meetings laws.
“For a politician who proclaims to admire President Teddy Roosevelt, Zinke appears to be bending over backwards to appease the very timber and oil barons Roosevelt himself built a legacy railing against,” said Oregon Wild Conservation Director Steve Pedery.
