The Antiquities Act lets presidents protect federal lands and waters that hold objects of historic or scientific interest. The Congressional Research Service’s 2021 review, National Monuments and the Antiquities Act , documents the history of presidential monument designations under the law. It also notes that designations apply only to lands owned or controlled by the federal government and remain subject to valid existing rights. Two of the monuments in Utah have been a part of the dispute. President Bill Clinton established Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah on September 18, 1996, through a presidential proclamation under the Antiquities Act. Both monuments have had their boundaries changed since then; this article explains what happened when they were restored in 2021 and what followed.
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