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President Joe Biden has used the Antiquities Act to create six new national monuments since taking office—more national monuments in a single term than any president since Jimmy Carter. Through these designations, Biden has made progress toward the national goal of protecting 30 percent of America’s public lands by 2030, as well as honored Indigenous and Black Americans, while protecting nature for generations to come.
But his work is not done. Project 2025, the far-right roadmap written by the Heritage Foundation for the Trump administration, proposes Congress abolish the Antiquities Act, which has been used since 1906—by both Republicans and Democrats—to designate over 150 national monuments. These monuments protect iconic landscapes—some of which have since been upgraded to national parks, like the Grand Tetons and the Grand Canyon—from commercial activities like logging, mining, and drilling.
Biden should use the power of the Antiquities Act to protect more public land while he still can, argues Binyamin Appelbaum, an opinion writer for the New York Times. There are a number of worthy monument proposals ready to go, including three in California. One is in the northern part of the state, in a volcanic region called Sáttítla. The second is adjacent to Joshua Tree National Park, called Chuckwalla. And the third is a stretch of desert down by the Mexican border, called Kw'tsán. Proposals are also ready to protect the Dolores River Canyon in Colorado and the Owyhee Canyonlands in Oregon. All together, Biden could protect over 2.5 million acres of public land by designating these monuments. He should act now, before it's too late.
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I think that when one looks back on our elected leaders and thinks about their legacy, protecting lands is often a very powerful part of that legacy. It’s something that endures and is associated with our leaders for long after they leave office. There just aren’t very many instances of people protecting land and us looking back on it and being like, you know, boy, that was a mistake.”
