S.J. Quinney College of Law professor John Ruple was interviewed by National Geographic in a Nov. 15 story titled, “What Does Trump Mean for America’s Lands and Waters? From oil exploration to the Clean Water Act, the incoming Trump Administration stands to make a break from previous policy.”
“The Antiquities Act gives the president the power to designate national monuments, but not the power to revoke prior monument designations, and two prior U.S. Attorneys General have opined that absent express delegation, the president would be without the power of revocation,” [said Ruple]. “If President Trump attempts to revoke a national monument designation, that effort will almost certainly be embroiled in litigation, and the revocation would likely fail.”