trump moves to reverse obomba's massive land grabs

[cheka.]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.8438c961ef2a

Trump orders review of national monuments, vows to ‘to end these abuses and return control to the people’

President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday instructing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review any national monument created since Jan. 1, 1996, that spans at least 100,000 acres in a move he said would “end another egregious use of government power.”

Referring to the 1906 law that empowers a president to take unilateral action to protect cultural, historic or natural resources on federal land that is under threat, Trump declared, “The Antiquities Act does not give the federal government unlimited power to lock up millions of acres of land and water, and it’s time that we ended this abusive practice.”

The sweeping review — which Trump predicted would “end these abuses and return control to the people, the people of all of the states, the people of the United States” — could prompt changes to areas designated not only by former president Barack Obama but also by George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday evening, Zinke suggested he would keep an open mind as he scrutinized past monument designations and that in and of itself the order would not repeal any existing monuments. “I’m not going to predispose what the outcome is going to be.”

But Trump indicated that he was eager to change the boundaries of a 1.35-million acre national monument Obama declared in December in Utah, Bears Ears, and that he wanted governors and those living near these sites to have the ultimate say over how it’s managed. He noted several opponents of recent Antiquities Act designations, including Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) and GOP Govs. Gary R. Herbert of Utah and Paul LePage of Maine, saying, “Today we are putting the states back in charge.”

“I’ve spoken with many state and local leaders, a number of them here today who care very much about preserving our land, and who are gravely concerned about this massive federal land grab. ” Trump said. “And now we’re going to free it up, which is what should have happened in the first place. … And tremendously positive things are going to happen on that incredible land, the likes of which there is nothing more beautiful anywhere in the world.”

[How Obama came to embrace national monuments as a way to leave his mark]

The order, which appears to affect 25 existing national monuments, it is sure to spark an intense political and legal battle.

[crimethink]

Still no pardon and withdrawal of persecution for the Bundys and team.

If he were serious about "returning control to the people," that would be immediate.

In fact, Trump is reversing this so the land can be sold at pennies on the dollar to corporations.

[monty]

More than likely it is all bullshit. I haven't listened to Lorri Anderson's analysis yet . . .




https://youtu.be/ESYABphaEE4

[osoab]

I don't remember where, but I read that there really is no mechanism in place to revoke past designations of national monuments.

[singular_me]

never trust any elites saying "we stand with the people or it is for the people, etc" ... never, ever...

if you pay attention ((they)) like to play passive aggressive games that make people believe ((they)) are fixing it, but over time everybody is fooled.

[crimethink]

I don't remember where, but I read that there really is no mechanism in place to revoke past designations of national monuments.

Pro-revocation legal opinion:

https://www.nationalparkstraveler.co...signations.pdf


The Antiquities Act of 1906 grants the president the power to designate national monuments in order to protect archeological sites, historic and prehistoric structures, and historic landmarks, such as battlegrounds. We are confident that, pursuant to this power to designate, a president has the corresponding power to revoke prior national monument designations, although there is no controlling judicial authority on this question. Based on the text of the act, historical practice, and constitutional principles, we have even more confidence that he can reduce the size of prior designations that cover vast areas of land and ocean habitat, although his power of reduction may in some instances be related to his implicit power of revocation.

An attorney general opinion in 1938 concluded that the statutory power granted to the president to create national monuments does not include the power to revoke prior designations. The opinion has been cited a few times in government documents, including by the solicitor of the Interior Department in 1947 (although for a different proposition) and in legal commentary, but the courts have never relied on it. We think this opinion is poorly reasoned; misconstrued a prior opinion, which came to the opposite result; and is inconsistent with constitutional, statutory, and case law governing the president’s exercise of analogous grants of power. Based on a more careful legal analysis, we believe that a general discretionary revocation power exists.

Apart from a general discretionary power to revoke monuments that were lawfully designated, we think the president has the constitutional power to declare invalid prior monuments if they were illegal from their inception. In the first instance, there is no reason why a president should give effect to an illegal act of his predecessor pending a judicial ruling. Beyond this, we think the president may also have a limited power to revoke individual monument designations based on earlier factual error or changed circumstances, even if he does not possess a general discretionary revocation power.


And, the environ-mentalist opposition:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opini...nts/ar-BBz0Ugr

[Cebu_4_2]

Pro-revocation legal opinion:

https://www.nationalparkstraveler.co...signations.pdf


The Antiquities Act of 1906 grants the president the power to designate national monuments in order to protect archeological sites, historic and prehistoric structures, and historic landmarks, such as battlegrounds. We are confident that, pursuant to this power to designate, a president has the corresponding power to revoke prior national monument designations, although there is no controlling judicial authority on this question. Based on the text of the act, historical practice, and constitutional principles, we have even more confidence that he can reduce the size of prior designations that cover vast areas of land and ocean habitat, although his power of reduction may in some instances be related to his implicit power of revocation.

An attorney general opinion in 1938 concluded that the statutory power granted to the president to create national monuments does not include the power to revoke prior designations. The opinion has been cited a few times in government documents, including by the solicitor of the Interior Department in 1947 (although for a different proposition) and in legal commentary, but the courts have never relied on it. We think this opinion is poorly reasoned; misconstrued a prior opinion, which came to the opposite result; and is inconsistent with constitutional, statutory, and case law governing the president’s exercise of analogous grants of power. Based on a more careful legal analysis, we believe that a general discretionary revocation power exists.

Apart from a general discretionary power to revoke monuments that were lawfully designated, we think the president has the constitutional power to declare invalid prior monuments if they were illegal from their inception. In the first instance, there is no reason why a president should give effect to an illegal act of his predecessor pending a judicial ruling. Beyond this, we think the president may also have a limited power to revoke individual monument designations based on earlier factual error or changed circumstances, even if he does not possess a general discretionary revocation power.


And, the environ-mentalist opposition:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opini...nts/ar-BBz0Ugr

Is it just me or does that go in circles? Yes he can, no he can't etc.

[singular_me]

never trust any elites saying "we stand with the people or it is for the people, etc" ... never, ever...

if you pay attention ((they)) like to play passive aggressive games that make people believe ((they)) are fixing it, but over time everybody is fooled.

an example of what I meant... give it some slack here but pull it back there...


Trump surprises with sudden support for NAFTA
27 April 2017 GMT
http://nypost.com/2017/04/26/trump-t...nt-kill-nafta/

[monty]

Trump's executive order is to "review" only. Neither Trump or Zinke are in favor of states controlling their un appropriated lands. Both cater to the sightseer, recreational, hunter, fisherman and environmentalist types. Neither are in favor of cattle grazing on the deserts or loggers cutting timber in the forests.

[palani]

I read that there really is no mechanism in place to revoke past designations of national monuments.

The landscape would surely be littered with monuments to past (aka "dead") generations if these things really existed. The body is equipped with five senses: sight, feel, taste, hearing and odor. If these senses don't detect something then likely that thing is a product of an overactive imagination. Learn to respond to what is real and not supposed.