Articles

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 should come as little ...

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 on the governmen ...

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. Reflecting the significant impacts of monument designations, there are sure to have been 10s of thousands of comments submitted. Now the A ...

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. Naturally, this ha ...

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 l ...

This week, PLF's Todd Gaziano and Professor John Yoo (who is also a new member of PLF's Board of Trustees) released a new study that explains why President Trump has the authority to reduce or revoke national monuments. The study was released at a very well attended event on Capitol Hill hosted by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), and opening remarks fr ...

President Obama broke the record for the number of national monument proclamations he issued and the millions of acres of public lands he locked up for such monuments. A few weeks before he left office, President Obama abused the Antiquities Act of 1906 again to proclaim 1.35 million acres in Utah and 300,000 acres in Nevada to be new national monu ...

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 off-limits to re ...