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KUNC is among the founding partners of the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration of public media stations that serve the Western states of Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

National Monument Law Gets Attention From Both Sides Of The Aisle In Washington

An area of Bears Ears disputed under the Antiquities Act.
Judy Fahys / KUER
An area of Bears Ears disputed under the Antiquities Act.

Separate bills are active in Congress to alternately strengthen or weaken the law used to create national monuments.

House Democrats have introduced a bill stating that only an act of Congress can shrink monuments, not the president under the Antiquities Act. That’s the Act President Trump recently used to scale back Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments.

Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah, has proposed a bill that would require congressional and state approval to create any more monuments in his home state. And Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, has a bill to overhaul the Antiquities Act completely.

Adam Sowards is an environmental historian at the University of Idaho.

"I think at this particular moment in history there’s concern — especially from Republicans — but I think it’s even more broad than that, around the concentration of power in the executive’s hands," Sowards said. 

He said changes have been made to the Antiquities Act before but this flurry of legislative activity is a sign of concern about presidential executive orders from both parties.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, Yellowstone Public Radio in Montana, KUER in Salt Lake City and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado.

Copyright 2020 KUER 90.1. To see more, visit .

Erik Neumann is a radio producer and writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, his work has appeared on public radio stations and in magazines along the West Coast. He received his Bachelor's Degree in geography from the University of Washington and a Master's in Journalism from UC Berkeley. Besides working at KUER, he enjoys being outside in just about every way possible.
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