Tag Archives: National Monuments

No monument changes planned, but up to Trump

U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said Wednesday he has no plans for additional changes to national monuments,,, Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, said its disappointing the administration won’t enact the recommendation to allow commercial fishing at the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts monument off the New England coastline. That would reverse what she considers an unfair designation by President Barack Obama in 2016.,,,”It’s unfortunate that the secretary is unwilling to do anything at this time because these areas are extremely important for the domestic commercial fishing industry,” Brady said. “They are very fertile fishing grounds.”Zinke also recommended allowing commercial fishing at the Pacific Remote Islands National Monument in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii and at the Rose Atoll National Monument in the Pacific Ocean near American Samoa. >click to read<19:11

Zinke backs shrinking more national monuments and shifting management of 10

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Tuesday called on President Trump to shrink a total of four national monuments and change the way six other land and marine sites are managed, a sweeping overhaul of how protected areas are maintained in the United States.,,, He also would revise the proclamations for those and the others to clarify that activities such as grazing, motorized vehicle use and commercial fishing should be allowed. The additional monuments affected include Northeast Canyons and Seamounts in the Atlantic Ocean; both Rose Atoll and the Pacific Remote Islands in the Pacific Ocean; New Mexico’s Organ Mountain-Desert Peaks and Rio Grande Del Norte; and Maine’s Katahdin Woods and Waters. click here to read the story 16:50

Yes, Trump can revoke national monuments

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has finally completed a months-long review of dozens of controversial national monuments, recommending major changes to 10 monuments, including shrinking six and relaxing regulation of the other four. Before the specific recommendations became public, the president’s opponents were already threatening lawsuits, claiming the president has no authority to change existing monuments. With the recommendations now public, it is only a matter of time before the litigation floodgates open. Everyone should take a deep breath.,,,  Nothing in the Antiquities Act forbids the president from revoking or shrinking a national monument. And the theory is belied by history: Seven presidents have shrunk national monuments, including President William Howard Taft, who reduced the Navajo National Monument by nearly 90 percent. click here to read the op-ed 12:10

Interior secretary won’t eliminate any national monuments

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said he’s recommending that none of 27 national monuments carved from wilderness and ocean and under review by the Trump administration be eliminated. But there would be changes to a “handful,” he said. Zinke told The Associated Press that unspecified boundary adjustments for some monuments designated over the past four decades will be included in the recommendations he planned to give President Donald Trump on Thursday. None of the sites would revert to new ownership, he said, while public access for uses such as hunting, fishing or grazing would be maintained or restored. click here to read the story 12:39

Monument review includes Northeast Canyons and Seamounts, Papahahanoukuakea National Marine Monument’s

President Donald Trump’s call to review 27 national monuments established by three former presidents,,, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke made his first recommendation Monday: Proposing a reduced size for the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. He is set to issue a final report in late August for all the monuments. A closer look at five of the monuments that are being re-examined: Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument, The designation closed the area to commercial fishermen, who go there primarily for lobster, red crab, squid, whiting, butterfish, swordfish and tuna. A coalition of commercial fishing groups filed a lawsuit in March to overturn the designation. They argued the creation of the monument would bring economic distress to fishermen and their families. Papahahanoukuakea National Marine Monument,The decision to expand the monument was the subject of fierce debate within Hawaii, with both sides invoking Native Hawaiian culture to argue why it should or shouldn’t be expanded. click here to read the story 08:30

Trump Orders Review Of National Monuments, Including The First In The Atlantic Ocean

President Donald Trump this week ordered a review of the U.S. Antiquities Act. The move could impact the Atlantic Ocean’s first-ever marine national monument, created last fall. The monument covers nearly 5,000 square miles off the coast of Cape Cod. It’s home to a variety of wildlife and underwater landscapes. This week, Trump ordered his interior secretary to review dozens of monuments created over the last roughly two decades, which are larger than 100,000 acres. Trump said they represent a “massive federal land grab.” Lisa Dale, with the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, said the review isn’t trying to rescind or undo anything — yet. “It’s quite heavy on ideology, and rather light on realism,” she said. lol! we’ll see! click here to read the story 17:19

Stakeholders Laud Senator Murkowski’s Legislation Pushing Back Against Presidential “Fiat”

“My legislation is designed to ensure that our oceans are not locked away with a stroke of the President’s pen,” Murkowski said. “The continued foreclosure of our lands and waters threatens economic activities from fishing to exploration for oil and natural gas.” GO LISA!!!! Read more here 17:26