National Monuments Under Threat From Mining Under New Executive Order

The Department of the Interior appears poised to open federal public lands, including national monuments, to more mining, per an executive order signed by newly appointed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

As Bobby Magill reports in Bloomberg Law, the order directs staff to “review and, as appropriate, revise all withdrawn public lands, consistent with existing law.” The order calls for a plan that will include coal mining and offshore oil and gas operations. “The order also directs Interior agencies to prioritize critical mineral development and help establish the US ‘as the leading producer and processor of nonfuel minerals, including rare earth minerals’ with additional focus on critical minerals.”

The move could imperil national monuments such as Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah, which were created through the 1906 Antiquities Act. However, experts warn that “The language of the order makes clear that withdrawing rights to mine minerals in monuments is to be done in ways that are consistent with existing law,” meaning the department will face a long process to reopen lands closed to development.

A case currently before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, Garfield County v. Biden, also challenges the President’s authority to create new national monuments under the Antiquities Act.