Executive Order puts Antiquity Act under scrutiny

Cedar Mesa Citadel Ruins at Bears Ears National Monument

Photo courtesy Bureau of Land Management

The 1906 Antiquities Act allows presidents to protect public lands and create national monuments. Presidents Clinton and Obama used that power to enrich their legacies by designating hundreds of thousands of acres. Now President Trump wants to go in the other direction. Kirk Siegler, who covers the West for National Public Radio, says the change is more about opposition to the federal government making decisions for states about use and management of public lands.