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‘Unconscionable’: Trump Looks to Gut Protections for National Monuments

Order instructs Interior Department to review designation of every monument larger than 100,000 acres protected by Antiquities Act since 1996

By Nadia Prupis, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 4-26-2017

Among the areas now at risk are Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, which protects more than 1.3 million acres of land. (Photo: Bureau of Land Management/flickr/cc)

President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered federal officials to launch a review of national monument designations, potentially setting the stage to gut environmental protections for public lands and oceans.

The executive order instructs the Department of the Interior to review the designation of every monument larger than 100,00 acres protected by the Antiquities Act since 1996. It could give fossil fuel companies access to millions of acres for new drilling, climate justice advocates warned. Continue reading

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