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SALT LAKE CITY — A summary of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's draft monument review released Thursday notes that some monuments' adherence to definitions in the Antiquities Act were either arbitrary or politically motivated, lacked a basis in science or were unsupported by practical resource management.
The executive summary made public is part of a more detailed report of recommendations delivered to the White House as part of a 120-day review of national monuments that began in April.
An initial list of 27 monuments was whittled to 21, but two contentious designations in Utah — Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante — remained.
The review is the result of an executive order issued by President Donald Trump after complaints by monument critics that past presidential declarations fell outside the scope of the 1906 Antiquities Act and were more about politics than meaningful conservation.
Zinke told the Associated Press earlier Thursday that his executive summary recommends changes to a "handful of monuments," and that no past designations would be rescinded altogether, including the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.
Additionally, Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, has said Zinke's executive summary will likely lack specifics and be based on broad principles and tenets of the Antiquities Act.
Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said in a teleconference Thursday about the monument review that he believes whatever recommendations are ultimately made, they will be accompanied by details of why boundaries were reduced in context with provisions of the Antiquities Act.
That law spells out that land can be set aside by a U.S. presidential declaration to protect cultural resources, but in the "smallest area compatible" to achieve the objects' protections.
Zinke's summary said some designations clearly fell outside that federal law.
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Zinke: Bears Ears monument boundaries need to change
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said the Bears Ears National Monument was designated outside the scope of the Antiquities Act and needs it boundaries "right sized" to protect the "highest density" of cultural artifacts, with other areas set aside for conservation and recreation."Adherence to the act’s definition of an 'object' and 'smallest area compatible' clause on some monuments were either arbitrary or likely politically motivated, or boundaries could not be supported by science or reasons of practical resource management," the document states.
"Despite the apparent lack of adherence to the purpose of the act, some monuments reflect a long public debate process and are largely settled and strongly supported by the local community," according to the summary.
Other monuments remain controversial, the report states, and designations overlap federal land designations already in place or contain signficant private property within their boundaries.
“No president should use the authority under the Antiquities Act to restrict public access, prevent hunting and fishing, burden private land, or eliminate traditional land uses, unless such action is needed to protect the object,” Zinke said in a prepared statement.
“The recommendations I sent to the president on national monuments will maintain federal ownership of all federal land and protect the land under federal environmental regulations, and also provide a much-needed change for the local communities who border and rely on these lands for hunting and fishing, economic development, traditional uses, and recreation.”
Monument supporters blasted the absence of specific recommendations Thursday.
"This secrecy shows the Trump administration knows their attack on national monuments is wildly unpopular," said Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities. "If Secretary Zinke expects Americans to be thankful because he wants to merely erase large chunks of national monuments instead of eliminating them entirely, he is badly mistaken."
Bishop, during his teleconference, said the review was an important path to foster more dialogue over the process used to designate national monuments.
He and other members of Utah's congressional delegation have been universal in their condemnation of former President Barack Obama's designation of Bears Ears last December and the way Grand Staircase was designated in 1996.
