The Antiquities Act of 1906 (, , ), is an
act that was passed by the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washi ...
and signed into law by
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
on June 8, 1906. This law gives the President of the United States the authority to, by
presidential proclamation
A presidential proclamation is a statement issued by a US president on an issue of public policy and is a type of presidential directive.
Details
A presidential proclamation is an instrument that:
*states a condition,
*declares a law and requi ...
, create
national monuments
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
from
federal lands
Federal lands are lands in the United States owned by the federal government. Pursuant to the Property Clause of the United States Constitution ( Article 4, section 3, clause 2), Congress has the power to retain, buy, sell, and regulate feder ...
to protect significant natural, cultural, or scientific features. The Act has been used more than a hundred times since its passage.
History
The Antiquities Act was signed into law by President
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
during his second term in office. The act resulted from concerns about protecting mostly prehistoric Native American ruins and artifacts -- collectively termed "
antiquities
Antiquities are objects from antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures. Artifacts from earlier periods such as the Meso ...
" -- on federal lands in the West, such as at
Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Removal of artifacts from these lands by private collectors, "pot hunters," had become a serious problem by the end of the 19th century. In 1902,
Iowa
Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...
Congressman
John F. Lacey
John Fletcher Lacey (May 30, 1841 – September 29, 1913) was an eight-term Republican United States congressman from Iowa's 6th congressional district. He was also the author of the Lacey Act of 1900, which made it a crime to ship illegal gam ...
, who chaired the House Committee on the Public Lands, traveled to the Southwest with the rising
anthropologist Edgar Lee Hewett, to see for himself the extent of the pot hunters' impact. His findings, supported by an exhaustive report by Hewett to Congress detailing the archaeological resources of the region, provided the necessary impetus for the passage of the legislation.
The Act failed to deter purposeful, criminal looting at these protected sites and was deemed too vague, resulting in passage of the
Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979. The Antiquities Act has been praised by several groups for its ability to protect important sites, including
The Wilderness Society, the
National Parks Conservation Association,
The Pew Charitable Trusts, and the
National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 b ...
.
Since the Antiquities Act became law, all but four presidents,
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was t ...
,
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
,
Ronald Reagan, and
George H.W. Bush, have chosen to enlarge or dedicate new national monuments.
President Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
established more monuments than any president before him, with 26. The previous record was held by President Theodore Roosevelt with 18 monuments.
On April 26, 2017, President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...
signed
Executive Order 13792 directing a review of the law and its uses.
Uses
The Act was intended to allow the President to set aside certain valuable public natural areas as park and conservation land. The 1906 act stated that it was intended for: "... the protection of objects of historic and scientific interest." These areas are given the title of "
national monuments
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
." It also allows the President to reserve or accept private lands for that purpose. The aim is to protect all historic and prehistoric sites on United States federal lands and to prohibit excavation or destruction of these antiquities. With this act, this can be done much more quickly than going through the Congressional process of creating a
national park
A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...
. The Act states that areas of the monuments are to be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.
The
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point ...
has repeatedly upheld presidential proclamations under the Antiquities Act, ruling each time that the Act gives the president nearly-unfettered discretion as to the nature of the object to be protected and the size of the area reserved.
[Cameron v. United States](_blank)
252 U.S. 450
426 U.S. 128
Some areas designated as national monuments have later been converted into national parks, or incorporated into existing national parks.
The first use of the Act protected a large geographic feature – President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed
Devils Tower National Monument
Devils Tower (also known as Bear Lodge Butte) is a butte, possibly laccolithic, composed of igneous rock in the Bear Lodge Ranger District of the Black Hills, near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fo ...
on September 24, 1906. President Roosevelt also used it to create the Grand Canyon National Monument (now
Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Canyon National Park, located in northwestern Arizona, is the 15th site in the United States to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often considered ...
).
At ,
Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM) (roughly ) is a World Heritage listed U.S. National Monument encompassing of ocean waters, including ten islands and atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It was created in June ...
is the largest protected area proclaimed. George W. Bush signed proclamation Proclamation 8031 to establish the monument on June 15, 2006.
The smallest,
Father Millet Cross National Monument (now part of a state park), was a mere .
[.]
For any excavation, the Act requires that a permit (Antiquities Permit) be obtained from the Secretary of the department which has jurisdiction over those lands.
Reduction of powers
Presidential powers under the Act have been reduced twice. The first time followed the controversial proclamation of
Jackson Hole National Monument in 1943. The 1950 law that incorporated Jackson Hole into an enlarged
Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park is an American national park in northwestern Wyoming. At approximately , the park includes the major peaks of the Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Grand Teton ...
also amended the Antiquities Act, requiring Congressional consent for any future creation or enlargement of National Monuments in
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the sou ...
.
The second time followed
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 19 ...
's use of the Act to create of national monuments in
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...
. The
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act requires Congressional ratification of the use of the Antiquities Act in Alaska for withdrawals of greater than .
The Trump administration, conducted a review of 27 major designations to consider changes and Trump subsequently significantly reduced the size of
Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument
The Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument (GSENM) is a United States national monument protecting the Grand Staircase, the Kaiparowits Plateau, and the Canyons of the Escalante ( Escalante River) in southern Utah. It was established in 1 ...
and
Bears Ears National Monument
Bears Ears National Monument is a United States national monument located in San Juan County in southeastern Utah, established by President Barack Obama by presidential proclamation on December 28, 2016. The monument protects of public land s ...
in Utah in 2017.
The legality of these actions was challenged in federal court, and President Biden restored the original areas in 2021. Although some presidents have chosen to ignore the tradition of preservation of notable environmental or historic areas, no president to date has entirely undone a predecessor's monument.
Several Supreme Court cases have upheld the president's ability to proclaim large areas under the Act.
See also
*
List of National Monuments of the United States
*
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government within the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of ...
References
External links
National Monument Facts and Figures– National Park Service
*
from NPS
''The Story of the Antiquities Act'', by Ronald F. LeeThe Monumental Legacy of the Antiquities Act of 1906 – Mark Squillace, University of Colorado Law SchoolRichard West Sellars, "A Very Large Array: Early Federal Historic Preservation--The Antiquities Act, Mesa Verde, and the National Park Service Act"(background and legislative history) published by the University of New Mexico School of Law, 2007*
ttps://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90631198 The Highs and Lows of the Antiquities Act*
ttps://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41330.pdf National Monuments and the Antiquities Act– Congressional Research Service
The Proclamation of National Monuments Under the Antiquities Act, 1906-1970
{{authority control
1906 in law
1906 in the environment
1906 in the United States
Progressive Era in the United States
United States federal environmental legislation
United States federal public land legislation
National Park Service