Throughout his time in office, Obama has implemented unconstitutional environmental policies by abusing his executive powers–including the Antiquities Act (which Roosevelt signed into law in 1906 to set aside public land for conservation). His actions have been largely applauded by environmentalists but criticized by some conservatives for placing too much land under federal control. Most important, his establishment of “the King’s land” through executive pen violates the spirit and law of the Constitution.
The Antiquities Act was intended to protect Indian ruins, artifacts and sacred sites on federal lands in the West and includes language to limit monument designations under this law to “the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects.” Compared to the early application of the Antiquities Act, where the average size of a national monument was 422 acres, it became commonplace for President Obama’s designated monuments to exceed one million acres in size.
Misuse of this outdated 1906 Act has jeopardized the daily activities, livelihoods and traditions of local communities. In numerous instances, grazing rights, water rights, energy development, wildfire prevention and other land management activities have been negatively impacted. These massive declarations have also resulted in restrictive land-use regulations that have limited hunting, fishing, OHV use and other recreational activities.
Adding insult to injury Obama created two new national monuments in Utah and Nevada prior to leaving office, furthering his unconstitutional environmental policies before President-elect Donald Trump took office. These new monuments, Bears Ears and Gold Butte, cover over 1.5 million acres of land, which brings the total land Obama has protected during his presidency to more than 550 million acres — more than double the amount that the well-known conservationist Theodore Roosevelt did.
The vast majority of Obama’s addition to the nation’s protected acreage, however, is water — he created and expanded several massive marine national monuments in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans (not to mention his recent ban on Arctic drilling).
This week’s two new monuments bring Obama’s total to 29. Below is a listing of the biggest, and most controversial, of his monuments–listed in reverse chronological order.
Bears Ears National Monument
Location: Utah
Size: 1.35 million acres
Date of proclamation: December 28, 2016
Gold Butte National Monument
Location: Nevada
Size: 300,000 acres
Date of proclamation: Dec 28, 2016
Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument
Location: Marine waters off the coast of New England
Size: 4,913 square miles (3,144,320 acres)
Date of proclamation: September 15, 2016
Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument
Location: Marine waters near the Northwest Hawaiian Islands
Size: 582,578 square miles — the world’s largest marine protected area. (The original monument was created in 2006 by President George W. Bush. Obama expanded the protected territory by 442,781 square miles-or 283,379,840 acres).
Date of proclamation: August 26, 2016
Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument
Location: Maine
Size: 87,500 acres
Date of proclamation: August 24, 2016
Mojave Trails National Monument
Location: California
Size: 1.6 million acres (including 400,000 acres of wilderness previously designated by Congress)
Date of proclamation: February 12, 2016
Sand to Snow National Monument
Location: California
Size: 154,000 acres (including 100,000 acres of wilderness previously designated by Congress)
Date of proclamation: February 12, 2016
Castle Mountains National Monument
Location: California
Size: 20,920 acres
Date of proclamation: February 12, 2016
Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument
Location: California
Size: 331,000 acres
Date of proclamation: July 10, 2015
Basin and Range National Monument
Location: Nevada
Size: 704,000 acres
Date of proclamation: July 10, 2015
Browns Canyon National Monument
Location: Colorado
Size: 21,586 acres
Date of proclamation: February 19, 2015
San Gabriel Mountains National Monument
Location: California
Size: 346,177 acres
Date of proclamation: October 10, 2014
Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument
Location: Marine waters west of Hawaii
Size: 308,316 square nautical miles (197,322,240 acres)
Date of proclamation: Obama established the monument on January 6, 2009, and expanded it on September 25, 2014
Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument
Location: New Mexico
Size: 496,330 acres
Date of proclamation: May 21, 2014
Rio Grande del Norte National Monument
Location: New Mexico
Size: 242,555 acres
Date of proclamation: March 25, 2013
Fort Ord National Monument
Location: California
Size: 14,651 acres
Date of proclamation: April 20, 2012