Articles

If courts are ever going to strike down an illegal national monument, this’ll be it

May 22, 2018 | By JONATHAN WOOD

Often, it seems the federal government has it out for the English language. The President and federal agencies routinely twist the words in statutes beyond recognition. For instance, PLF has long challenged EPA’s bizarre claim that dry land is “water” under the Clean Water Act. The government’s no fan of consistency, so it s ...

Articles

In Northeast Canyons monument case, will President Trump follow the Secretary of Interior’s recommendation to lift illegal fishing prohibitions or will he defend his predecessor’s Antiquities Act abuse?

March 22, 2018 | By JONATHAN WOOD

The wheels of justice grind slowly. And sometimes they come to a complete halt. That’s what happened over the past year to fishermen challenging the illegal designation of a 5,000 square mile national monument in the Atlantic Ocean. The first anniversary of the filing of their case passed several weeks and they are still waiting … ...

Articles

What next for President Trump’s reconsideration of national monuments?

July 11, 2017 | By JONATHAN WOOD

Yesterday was the deadline for public comments on the Department of Interior’s recommendation to the President about what to do about the 27 large national monuments established since the Clinton administration. … ...

Articles

Law professors argue the President can't revoke national monuments (and implicitly that Congress can't either)

May 16, 2017 | By JONATHAN WOOD

We’ve written a lot lately about past Presidents’ abuse of the Antiquities Act and President Trump’s opportunity to reconsider some of those abuses. A few weeks ago, the President issued an executive order calling for a review of 21 years of monument designations, suggesting that he may use his power to revoke past designations. N ...

Articles

President Trump orders review of 21 years of Antiquities Act abuse

April 26, 2017 | By JONATHAN WOOD

This morning, President Trump issued an executive order requiring the Department of Interior to review 21 years of national monument designations. That review is long overdue. For decades, Presidents have treated the Antiquities Act as a blank check to shut down productive activity over vast areas, in the belief that doing so will establish their ...

Articles

Weekly litigation report — March 11, 2017

March 11, 2017 | By JAMES BURLING

Going to sea to challenge a National Monument We filed this complaint challenging President Obama’s lame-duck designation of 5,000 square miles of ocean off the Massachusetts coast to be a new national monument under the Antiquities Act. We simply don’t think that an area in the ocean the size of Connecticut can qualify as a monument ...

Articles

Is the ocean "land owned or controlled by the Federal government"?

March 07, 2017 | By JONATHAN WOOD

As President Obama’s final term came to a close, he engaged in what has unfortunately become a favorite pastime for lame duck Presidents: trying to build a legacy by abusing the Antiquities Act. President Obama was the Barry Bonds of this abuse, shattering his predecessors’ records. All told, he declared more than 550 million acres  ...