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North Woods National Monument Unaffected By Trump’s Executive Order — For Now

Carolyn Kaster
/
Associated Press
President Donald Trump speaks at the Interior Department in Washington, Wednesday, April 26, 2016, where he signed an Antiquities Executive Order. Maine Gov. Paul LePage is on the far right, partly obscured.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday directing a review of national monuments created under the Antiquities Act. But it is limited to larger designations, and marks the start of what will likely be a lengthy review of the 1906 federal law first used by President Theodore Roosevelt.

The executive order is notable for what it doesn’t do. At the signing ceremony, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke assured that the order is limited in scope and does not seek to undo any designations by previous presidents.

“Let’s be clear. This executive order does not remove any monuments. And this executive order does not weaken any environmental protections on any public lands,” he says.

Zinke says the order focuses on those monuments created roughly over the last 20 years that exceed 100,000 acres in total size. The Katahdin Woods and Waters monument created by President Barack Obama last summer on land next to Baxter State Park is about 88,000 acres, and did not make the review list circulated by Zinke at a briefing for reporters.

But the secretary could decide the designation was made without adequate public outreach and add it to the list under language in the executive order.

Whether President Trump will propose changes to the law is unclear, but he made it clear at the signing ceremony that he has problems with it.

“The Antiquities Act does not give the federal government unlimited power to lock up millions of acres of land and water, and it’s about time we end this abusive practice,” Trump says.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage was at the signing ceremony but did not speak. Earlier this week, LePage said he will ask Congress to make changes in the Antiquities Act to give state and local governments more say in creation of national monuments.

“A president can take land but he’s got to work with the state in which he is taking it,” he said. “The Legislature in Maine had a resolution that said they did not want a national park or monument, the governor weighed in did not want it, we had local referendums that said they didn’t want it and he did it anyways.”

LePage will testify at an oversight hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee next week, in which the panel is seeking comment on the act but is not considering any specific legislation.

Several bills have been introduced to change the law, but have not been scheduled for hearings. But the chair of the panel, Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah, has made it clear that legislation is likely from the committee. Bishop has been a strong critic of the law for years.

Supporters of the law will also testify next week. The panel has confirmed that Lucas St. Clair, head of the foundation that donated the land to the federal movement for the Maine monument, will appear before the committee on the same day as LePage.

Journalist Mal Leary spearheads Maine Public's news coverage of politics and government and is based at the State House.