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Antiquities Act

 
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The Antiquities Act of 1906, officially An Act for the Preservation of American Antiquities (16 USC
United States Code

The United States Code is a compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal law of the United States. ...
 431-433), is an act
Act of Congress

An act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States government....
 passed by the United States Congress
United States Congress

The United States Congress is the Bicameralism legislature of the Federal government of the United States of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives....
 and signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt , also known as T.R., and to the public as Teddy, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States....
 on June 8, 1906 giving the President of the United States
President of the United States

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition....
 authority to restrict the use of particular public land
Public land

In all modern states, some land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land. The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countries....
 owned by the federal government by executive order, bypassing Congressional oversight.






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A Yool Devilstower 04sep03
The Antiquities Act of 1906, officially An Act for the Preservation of American Antiquities (16 USC
United States Code

The United States Code is a compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal law of the United States. ...
 431-433), is an act
Act of Congress

An act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States government....
 passed by the United States Congress
United States Congress

The United States Congress is the Bicameralism legislature of the Federal government of the United States of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives....
 and signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt , also known as T.R., and to the public as Teddy, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States....
 on June 8, 1906 giving the President of the United States
President of the United States

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition....
 authority to restrict the use of particular public land
Public land

In all modern states, some land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land. The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countries....
 owned by the federal government by executive order, bypassing Congressional oversight. The Act has been used over a hundred times since its passage. Its use frequently creates significant controversy.

History

The Antiquities Act resulted from concerns about protecting mostly prehistoric Indian ruins and artifacts — collectively termed "antiquities
Antiquities

Antiquities, nearly always used in the plural in this sense, is a term for objects from ancient history, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures....
" — on federal lands in the West, such as at Chaco Canyon, New Mexico
Chaco Culture National Historical Park

Chaco Culture National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park and it is a portion of a UNESCO World Heritage Site hosting the densest and most exceptional concentration of pueblos in the American Southwest....
. Removal of artifacts from these lands by private collectors — "pot hunters," in the language of the time — had become a serious problem by the end of the 19th century. In 1902, Iowa
Iowa

The State of Iowa is a U.S. state in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland." It is bordered by Minnesota to the north, Wisconsin and Illinois to the east, Nebraska and South Dakota to the west, and Missouri to the south....
 Congressman John F. Lacey
John F. Lacey

John Fletcher Lacey was a United States Member of Congress from the state of Iowa. He is significant in the history of the conservation movement for his role in writing and enacting the Antiquities Act, pivotal for the preservation of major archaeology sites in the Southwestern United States....
, who chaired the House Committee on the Public Lands, traveled to the Southwest with the rising anthropologist
Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humans and humanity in its totality. Anthropology has origins in the natural sciences, and the humanities. In Great Britain it was originally divided into physical anthropology and cultural anthropology, which itself was divided into archaeology, technology, ethnology and sociology ....
 Edgar Lee Hewett
Edgar Lee Hewett

Edgar Lee Hewett, D.Sc., was an archaeologist/anthropologist active in work on the Native Americans in the United States communities of New Mexico and the southwestern United States, and most famous for his role in bringing about the Antiquities Act, a pioneering piece of legislation for the conservation movement....
, to see for himself the extent of the pot hunters' impact. His findings, supported by an exhaustive report by Hewett to Congress detailing the archaeological resources of the region, provided the necessary impetus for the passage of the legislation.

Intended use

The Act was intended to allow the President to set aside certain valuable public natural areas as park and conservation land. These areas are given the title of "National Monuments
U.S. National Monument

A National Monument in the United States is a protected area that is similar to a United States Park Service except that the President of the United States can quickly declare an area of the United States to be a National Monument without the approval of United States Congress....
." It also allows him to reserve or accept private lands for that purpose. The aim is to protect all historic and prehistoric sites on United States federal lands and to prohibit excavation or destruction of these antiquities. With this act, this can be done much more quickly than going though the Congressional process of creating a National Park
National park

A national park is a reserve of land, usually declared and owned by a national government, protected from most human development and pollution....
. The Act states that areas of the monuments are to be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.

Some areas designated as National Monuments have later been converted into National Parks, or incorporated into existing National Parks.

First use

Although the intended use was for small historic sites, the first use of the Act actually protected a large geographic feature — President Roosevelt proclaimed Devils Tower National Monument
Devils Tower National Monument

Devils Tower is a monolithic igneous rock intrusion or volcanic neck located in the Black Hills near Hulett, Wyoming and Sundance, Wyoming in Crook County, Wyoming, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River....
 on September 24, 1906. The most recent proclamation was Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument

The Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument is a U.S. National Monument encompassing of ocean waters and ten islands and atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, making it the largest Marine Protected Area in the world....
 by George W. Bush
George W. Bush

George Walker Bush served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was the 46th List of Governors of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before being United States presidential inauguration as President on January 20, 2001....
 on June 15, 2006.

For any excavation, the Act requires that a permit (Antiquities Permit) be obtained from the Secretary of the department which has jurisdiction over those lands.

Reduction of powers

Presidential powers under the Act have been reduced twice. The first time followed the unpopular proclamation of Jackson Hole National Monument
Jackson Hole National Monument

Jackson Hole National Monument was a wildlife reserve in Jackson Hole, the majority of which is now a part of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, United States....
 in 1943. The 1950 law that incorporated Jackson Hole into an enlarged Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park is a United States National Park located in northwestern Wyoming, south of Yellowstone National Park. The park is named after the Grand Teton, which, at , is the tallest mountain in the Teton Range....
 also amended the Antiquities Act, requiring Congressional consent for any future creation or enlargement of National Monuments in Wyoming
Wyoming

The State of Wyoming is a sparsely populated U.S. state in the Northwestern United States of the United States. The majority of the state is dominated by the mountain ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountains, while the easternmost section of the state is a high altitude prairie region known as the High Plains ....
. The second time followed Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize....
's use of the Act to create fifty-six million acres (230,000 kmē) of National Monuments in Alaska
Alaska

Alaska is the largest U.S. state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait....
. The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act

The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act was a United States federal law passed in 1980 by the Congress of the United States and signed into law by President of the United States Jimmy Carter on December 2 of that year....
 requires Congressional ratification of the use of the Antiquities Act in Alaska for withdrawals of greater than 5,000 acres (20.2 kmē).

Codification

The Antiquities Act is codified at to .

See also

  • Timeline of environmental events
    Timeline of environmental events

    The timeline of environmental events is a historical account of events that have shaped humanity's perspective on the environment. This timeline includes some major natural events, human induced disasters, environmentalists that have had a positive influence, and environmental legislation....
  • Theodore Roosevelt
    Theodore Roosevelt

    Theodore Roosevelt , also known as T.R., and to the public as Teddy, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States....