STATES NEWSROOM • July 19, 2024
The “conservative” Project 2025 initiative calls for the repeal of the Antiquities Act, established to safeguard some of America’s most iconic public lands. Published by the Heritage Foundation, Project 2025 is a manifesto describing the policies that a new Republican administration could enact. National parks like the Grand Canyon, Grand Teton and four of Utah’s Big Five — Arches, Capitol Reef, Zion and Bryce Canyon — all started as national monuments, designated by a president who used the Antiquities Act. Katahdin Woods & Waters National Monument in Maine was also created by use of the the Antiquities Act. Since 1906, the act has been used over 300 times to set aside millions of acres of land for all Americans. Regardless of political affiliation, public lands have broad support even among voters in the West.