Red Butte in Coconino County, Wednesday, Aug. 30. Known as "Wii'i Gdwiisa," in Havasupai, the sacred grounds are protected under President Joe Biden's Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni- Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.
Environmentalists say that a new order issued this week by the new Interior Secretary puts national monuments at risk.
On Monday, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued a Secretarial Order, prompting an internal review of agency actions related to oil, gas, and mining regulations on public lands.
The order requires all assistant secretaries to submit an action plan within 15 days, outlining how to comply with President Trump’s Executive Order, Unleashing American Energy.
“Our focus must be on advancing innovation to improve energy and critical minerals identification, permitting, leasing, development, production, transportation, refining, distribution, exporting and generation capacity of the United States,” Burgum wrote, “to provide a reliable, diversified, growing, and affordable supply of energy for our nation.”
Daniel Hart, director of clean energy and climate resiliency policy for the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) says the move puts national monuments designated under the Antiquities Act at risk– landmarks like Chiricahua or Montezuma Castle National Monuments.
The conservation law has been used by Presidents to safeguard public lands since 1906.
“To basically make it, the way we read it, easier to develop oil and gas on federal lands and waters and to mine on those same federal lands,” Hart said.
National monuments are established to protect natural landscapes and resources as well as tribal and cultural sites.
Arizona has 10 national monuments among its 22 national park sites, and there are more than 420 park units nationwide.
Burgum’s memo says that “by removing regulations, America’s natural resources can be unleashed to restore American prosperity.”
“We worry about why they are specifically looking at the Antiquities Act. Would they be trying to shrink or even remove national monuments that have been in place, some for over a century in order to then develop them, ruining the landscape, hurting waters, hurting wildlife, and possibly even destroying archaeological and cultural sites?” Hart said.
According to the NPCA, millions of acres of public land are already leased to oil and gas companies, with over 12 million acres currently active for fossil fuel extraction out of 24 million acres under lease.
The organization considered national monuments considered high-risk under Burgum’s order–many of which protect tribal history, archaeological sites, and geological features, including the recently designated Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni - Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.
Mining is particularly concerning in Arizona, Hart emphasized
“If that is going to be happening even closer to the Grand Canyon or these rare water sources in a drier state such as Arizona, it is worrisome to try and plow through it as quick as possible, to try to remove or move monuments or even just do them right on the border of these parks when they should be protected at all cost,” Hart said.
Burgham’s order could also upend the Public Lands Rule announced last year by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which prioritizes conservation in management decisions.
Its official title, the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, is under review.
Burgum directs all assistant secretaries to consider steps to suspend, revise, or rescind key provisions.
“I believe they would begin the regulatory process to overturn that rule,” Hart said.
In Arizona, BLM oversees 12.1 million acres of surface land and 17.5 million subsurface acres.
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