Utah Lawmaker Seeks to Gut Historic Conservation Law

WASHINGTON  – The House Natural Resources Committee is holding a markup today on an extreme bill introduced by its chairman, Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) to gut the Antiquities Act, a century-old conservation law.  The proposal would dramatically diminish protection available under the act, making it impossible to designate large landscapes as monuments, allowing a president to scale back monuments, and removing authority to designate marine national monuments.

The following is a statement from Sharon Buccino, director of the Land and Wildlife program for the Natural Resources Defense Council:

“This is the most aggressive attack ever waged on America’s national parks and monuments.  Under Bishop’s proposal, a president could not designate iconic places like the Grand Canyon, Muir Woods or Acadia National Park as national monuments.  More than 2.8 million people—a record breaking number—have urged the Trump administration to protect, and not eviscerate, our natural heritage.  Congress should not take the bait and destroy this bedrock law.”

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The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.​