The view from Comb Ridge in Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument. Each created multiple monuments under the 1906 Antiquities Act, which gives the president wide latitude to safeguard federal land that faces a threat. While the order will not rescind any national monuments at the outset, it is sure to spark an intense political and legal battle. That includes Hawaii’s Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, which Bush designated in 2006 and Obama quadrupled in size a decade later. “They fell short on the process and the substance underlying the justification for them,” Connaughton said of Obama administration officials.

Source: Washington Post April 26, 2017 01:28 UTC