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President Joe Biden has created more national monuments in a single term than any president since Jimmy Carter left office in 1981—and there is still time to do more before he leaves office.
One of President Biden's first moves in office was to restore Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah after President Trump attempted to reduce their size. Since then, he has created six new monuments and expanded two more, totaling 1.6 million acres. “He really started thinking about monuments right from the get-go,” said Justin Pidot, a professor at the University of Arizona College of Law who worked in the Biden and Obama administrations. “So, you see much more activity than you usually see during the first term.”
California Tribes are advocating for three more new national monuments before Biden leaves office, noting that a second Trump administration poses a risk for additional attempts to reduce national monuments, and possibly a broader challenge to the Antiquities Act itself, the more than 100-year-old law that gives presidents the authority to designate national monuments via proclamation. Local advocates are also pushing for the protection of the Owyhee Canyonlands in southeast Oregon and the Dolores Canyons in southwest Colorado.
Conservation and public lands victories in 2024
Despite the looming threat of a second Trump administration, there are several key conservation and public lands victories achieved in 2024 that are worthy of celebrating, as noted in a recent article by The Wilderness Society. Examples include the Bureau of Land Management's public lands and oil and gas rules, and its release of a plan to guide renewable energy development on public lands; enhanced protections for the Western Arctic; new and expanded national monuments and national wildlife refuges; mineral withdrawals to protect sensitive ecosystems and landscapes from drilling and mining; and historic funding for access to outdoor experiences. Read the article for some good news to end the week.
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One of the coolest things about the fact that monarchs are kind of everywhere is that everyone can get involved with conservation. One of our goals at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is to maintain that magic for the public.”
