>
Article snippet: As the Trump administration's review of national monument designations reaches a close, Interior Secretary MORE is facing more heat than ever from conservationists and outdoor groups. Opponents of the review say it could close off America's natural treasures to the public, and have poured more than $2 million into ads targeting Zinke, urging him not to rescind large national monuments established under the last three presidents. But industry officials and conservatives want Zinke to loosen the federal government's grip on huge swaths of acreage around the country, and propose reforms to the monuments law. “We're all-hands-on-deck on monuments right now,” said Aaron Weiss, a spokesman for the Center for Western Priorities. “Clearly across the conservation world, recognizing this is completely unprecedented, I think that’s part of the reason why you’ve seen the scale of the response you’re seeing, he said. Zinke began his review in April when President Trump ordered the Interior Department to reconsider 27 large monument designations since 1996. The review is part of an administration-wide effort to boost energy production and expand American industries, and Zinke is due to finalize his recommendations and send them to the White House by Thursday. The review is a first-of-its-kind effort: since President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act into law in 1906, giving presidents the power to set aside areas of public land for conservation, no president has e... Link to the full article to read more