Today, AFRC President Travis Joseph sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Zinke requesting that he review the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument designation as part of Executive Order 13792 entitled, “Review of Designations Under the Antiquities Act.” The April 26 Executive Order requires the Secretary to review certain national monuments made under the Antiquities Act since 1996 and to report back to the President within 45 days summarizing the findings of the report and providing recommendations for any “Presidential actions, legislative proposals, or other actions consistent with the law as the Secretary may consider appropriate.”
In the letter, Joseph describes how the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument expansion in January 2017, made just eight days before President Obama left office, “epitomize[s] the lack of public outreach and public coordination” for major Antiquities Act designations and how the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in particular is unique because “it raises serious legal questions about the conflict between a clear congressional mandate for the lands in question and the administration authorities of the Antiquities Act.” Click download to review the letter.