The Antiquities Act Essay

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What is so special about the year 1906? Well, this was the year that Theodore Roosevelt established what we call the Antiquities Act. The Antiquities Act must be reformed in this day due to many reasons. The Antiquities Act was originally created in order to act quickly to save parts of the land including archeological sites and/or Native American Land and Structures that were vulnerable to destruction, vandalism, and development. Recently President Obama designated a large portion of Utah as a National Monument, called Bear’s Ears. According to Nicolas Loris, “Since 1906, 16 Presidents have designated more than 140 monuments covering in excess of 285 million acres of land and marine areas.” In any case, the state and the people deserve the …show more content…

As explained by Gary Herbert, the Governor of Utah, “By unilaterally locking up 1.35 million acres — an area roughly the size of the entire State of Delaware — the president has misused his authority under the Antiquities Act and violated assurances made by his Interior Secretary to take into account local concerns before making a monument designation.” Simply put, when Obama turned Bears Ears into a national monument, he was misconducting his authority. Moreover, not only was he abusing his power, but the individual jurisdiction he is given is also leading to him ignoring the people, as described in the first point. Another point is that the President and the Antiquities Act are together leading to destruction. “This was not a compromise. The Antiquities Act and the heavy hand of a president are what made this occur.” Policy Analyst Matt Anderson states. That is to say, that if the Antiquities act is removed, then so will power that is given solely to the president. The President should not be able to have the right to do anything he wants without permission from the congress and the people; that is a characteristic of a king, and it should not be a characteristic of our president. Therefore, the management of where National Monuments are placed should not be in place for the president

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