Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum’s Secretarial Order SO 3418 directives include:
Directing agencies to conduct a review of:
- National Monuments designated by use of the Antiquities Act
- Resource Management Plans
- The Public Lands Rule
- Rollback protections for public lands withdrawn from fossil fuel and mining development
You may recall that a similar review of national monuments occurred under Trump’s first term, which resulted in the shrinking of national monument boundaries in Utah. We believe this week’s action is just the beginning of what will be a full-scale attack on national monument designations and other public land protections we collectively fought so hard to secure.
Excerpts Especially Pertinent to National Monuments and BLM Lands:
Sec. 4. Directive. “All Assistant Secretaries are hereby directed to promptly review all agency actions and submit an action plan to me in 15 days to consider how to comply…” with Trump’s “Unleashing American Energy” Executive Order.
“b. […] all Assistant Secretaries should include in the plan required by this section, steps that, as appropriate, will be taken to suspend, revise, or rescind documents, including but not limited to, the following regulations, Secretary’s Orders (SO), Solicitor’s Opinions, Instruction Memoranda (IM), and Departmental Manuals (DM):
…“Conservation and Landscape Health,” 89 Fed. Reg. 40308 (May 9, 2024);
To translate, 89 Fed. Reg. 40308 is the Public Lands Rule established to put conservation on equal footing with other uses.
“c. […] all Assistant Secretaries are hereby directed to include in their action plans the steps to be taken that would accomplish, at a minimum, the following:
…actions to review and, as appropriate, revise all withdrawn public lands, consistent with existing law, including 54 U.S.C. 320301 and 43 U.S.C. 1714…”
To translate, 54 U.S.C. 320301 are national monuments established under the Antiquities Act of 1906.
And 43 U.S.C. 1714 is Federal Lands Policy Management Act mineral withdrawals. This means Resource Management Plans, in particular those with Areas of Critical Environmental Concern and other withdrawals, may be suspended, revised, or rescinded.
For reference, here is the Conservation Lands Foundation’s statement on the SO.
