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40-641: The Antiquities Act of 1906 ( Pub. L.   59–209 , 34  Stat.   225 , 54 U.S.C.   §§ 320301 – 320303 ) is an act that was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt on June 8, 1906. This law gives the president of the United States the authority to, by presidential proclamation , create national monuments from federal lands to protect significant natural, historic, or scientific features. The Act has been used more than

80-596: A conceptual framework, whereby both new and existing park units would be examined more holistically for ways to study history such as "creating social movements and institutions," "developing the American economy," and "peopling places." In the 20th century, potential new park units have been recommended not so much on "an orderly, balanced, and comprehensive" preservation of "outstanding examples", as Chief Historian Ronald Lee put it, but on those mandated to be studied by Congress, most of whose requests are recommended against by

120-536: A hundred times since its enactment to create a wide variety of protected areas. The Antiquities Act was signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt during his second term in office. The act resulted from concerns about protecting mostly prehistoric Native American ruins and artifacts—collectively termed " antiquities "—on federal lands in the West, such as at Chaco Canyon, New Mexico . Removal of artifacts from these lands by private collectors, "pot hunters," had become

160-759: A park is not itself "historic", but can be called "historical" when it contains historic resources. It is the resources which are historic, not the park. There are 63 national historical parks. Klondike Gold Rush International Historical Park was formally established by the United States and Canada in 1998, the year of the centennial of the gold rush the park commemorates. The park comprises Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Washington and Alaska (above) and Chilkoot Trail National Historic Site in British Columbia. Tens of thousands of prospectors took this trail in hopes of making their fortunes in

200-601: A serious problem by the end of the 19th century. In 1902, Iowa Congressman John F. Lacey , who chaired the House Committee on the Public Lands, traveled to the Southwest with the rising anthropologist Edgar Lee Hewett , 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

240-482: Is promulgated , or given the force of law, in one of the following ways: The president promulgates acts of Congress made by the first two methods. If an act is made by the third method, the presiding officer of the house that last reconsidered the act promulgates it. Under the United States Constitution , if the president does not return a bill or resolution to Congress with objections before

280-547: Is deprecated by some dictionaries and usage authorities. However, the Bluebook requires "Act" to be capitalized when referring to a specific legislative act. The United States Code capitalizes "act". The term "act of Congress" is sometimes used in informal speech to indicate something for which getting permission is burdensome. For example, "It takes an act of Congress to get a building permit in this town." An act adopted by simple majorities in both houses of Congress

320-492: Is not yet owned or formally developed by the National Park Service, but may eventually be owned and established as a national historic site. National historical parks tend to be larger and more complex than national historic sites. In the United States, sites are "historic", while parks are "historical". The NPS explains that a site can be intrinsically historic, while a park is a modern legal invention. As such,

360-519: Is the largest protected area proclaimed. George W. Bush signed proclamation Proclamation 8031 to establish the monument in 2006, and President Barack Obama expanded its size in 2016. The smallest, Father Millet Cross National Monument (now part of a state park), was a mere 0.0074 acres (30 m). For any excavation, the Act requires that a permit (Antiquities Permit) be obtained from the Secretary of

400-430: The 111th United States Congress . Public laws are also often abbreviated as Pub. L. No. X–Y. When the legislation of those two kinds are proposed, it is called public bill and private bill respectively. The word "act", as used in the term "act of Congress", is a common, not a proper noun . The capitalization of the word "act" (especially when used standing alone to refer to an act mentioned earlier by its full name)

440-557: The 63 national parks include areas originally designated as national monuments. The first use of the Act protected a large geographic feature: President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Devils Tower National Monument on September 24, 1906. President Roosevelt also used it to create the Grand Canyon National Monument (now Grand Canyon National Park ) and sixteen other sites. At 583,000 square miles (1,510,000 km), Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument

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480-655: The Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown battlefield in Virginia as one of the first new historical areas, and it was renamed a national historical park in 1936. It then established Morristown National Historical Park , the 1779–1780 winter encampment of the Continental Army in New Jersey, on March 2, 1933, as the first NHP: The U.S. House committee noted that the new designation was logical for

520-675: The National Park Service (NPS). Some federally designated sites are owned by local authorities or privately owned, but are authorized to request assistance from the NPS as affiliated areas. One property is managed by the U.S. Forest Service , Grey Towers National Historic Site . Since October 15, 1966, all historic areas, including NHPs and NHSs, in the NPS are automatically listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). There are also about 90,000 NRHP sites,

560-541: The National Trust for Historic Preservation . Since the Antiquities Act became law, all but three presidents, Richard Nixon , Ronald Reagan , and George H.W. Bush , have chosen to enlarge or dedicate new national monuments. President Obama established more monuments than any president, with 29 in total. The previous record was held by President Clinton with 19 monuments. President Carter dedicated

600-539: The 1950s, the Mission 66 program revived historic studies that had lagged during World War II and saw the creation of the National Historic Landmarks program as a method to recognize important sites. From the 1960s to 1990s, the NPS evolved from a thematic framework, in which numerous specific themes and subthemes of American history were expected to each be included in some way in the system, to

640-454: The Act gives the president wide discretion as to the nature of the object to be protected and the size of the area reserved. The first such case was a unanimous decision in 1920 that upheld the creation of Grand Canyon National Monument. Act of Congress#Public law, private law, designation An act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress . Acts may apply only to individual entities (called private laws ), or to

680-584: The Antiquities Act, requiring Congressional consent for any future creation or enlargement of national monuments in Wyoming . The second time followed Jimmy Carter 's use of the Act to create 17 national monuments in Alaska covering 56 million acres (230,000 km). The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act rescinded Carter's withdrawals while establishing those areas as national parks or other site types and requires Congressional ratification of

720-698: The Constitution may be declared unconstitutional by the courts. A judicial declaration that an act of Congress is unconstitutional does not remove the act from the Statutes at Large or the United States Code; rather, it prevents the act from being enforced. However, the act as published in annotated codes and legal databases is marked with annotations indicating that it is no longer good law. National Historical Parks As of 2024, there are 63 NHPs and 85 NHSes. Most NHPs and NHSs are managed by

760-671: The Interior , but most have been authorized by acts of Congress . In 1937, the first NHS was created in Salem, Massachusetts , in order to preserve and interpret the maritime history of New England and the United States. There is one National Historic Area in the US park system, a unique designation given to the Aleutian World War II National Historic Area . There is one International Historic Site in

800-444: The NPS developed criteria for nationally significant historic sites in the late 1930s, it aimed to identify unique sites that could each tell a broad story and would fit together to cover all aspects of American history. Surveys of sites were guided by themes and chronologies to ensure a diverse and comprehensive selection of those most representative of different eras and geographies, with less political influence over site selection. In

840-692: The NPS's mandate. In 1935, Congress passed the Historic Sites Act ( Pub. L.   49–666 ), which established that "it is a national policy to preserve for public use historic sites, buildings and objects of national significance for the inspiration and benefit of the people of the United States." This expanded upon the Antiquities Act of 1906, which gave the President the ability to order "the protection of objects of historic and scientific interest." The Historic Sites Act directed

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880-461: The NPS. A 1973 NPS publication outlined policies for administration of historical areas, which were distinct from its natural and recreational areas. This included not only NHSs and NHPs but also national military parks, national battlefields, national battlefield parks, national battlefield sites, national memorials, and some national monuments; at that time there were 178 such areas, and management focused on "maintaining and where necessary restoring

920-555: The National Park Service to survey historic sites which may be of national significance, as well as restore and acquire properties. The Historic American Buildings Survey began to document the country's architectural heritage and identify buildings for potential protection. Initially the Secretary of the Interior could designate national historic sites, though this did not include funding for acquition or administration without congressional action. Salem Maritime National Historic Site

960-517: The US park system, a unique designation given to Saint Croix Island , Maine, on the New Brunswick border. The title, given to the site of the first permanent French settlement in America, recognizes the influence that it has had on both Canada and the United States. The NPS does not distinguish among these designations in terms of their preservation or management policies. The following site

1000-472: The area and set a new precedent, with comparison to the national military parks , which were then in the War Department. The park's establishment allowed the NPS to have an administrative historical program with professional historians. President Franklin D. Roosevelt reorganized the agency to also oversee memorials and military parks with historic significance later in 1933, substantially broadening

1040-432: The department which has jurisdiction over those lands. Presidents have historically tended to create more monuments during their second terms or lame duck periods. Presidential powers under the Act have been reduced twice. The first time followed the controversial proclamation of Jackson Hole National Monument in 1943. The 1950 law that incorporated Jackson Hole into an enlarged Grand Teton National Park also amended

1080-474: The general public ( public laws ). For a bill to become an act, the text must pass through both houses with a majority, then be either signed into law by the president of the United States , be left unsigned for ten days (excluding Sundays) while Congress remains in session, or, if vetoed by the president, receive a congressional override from 2 ⁄ 3 of both houses. In the United States, acts of Congress are designated as either public laws , relating to

1120-463: The general public, or private laws , relating to specific institutions or individuals. Since 1957, all Acts of Congress have been designated as "Public Law X–Y" or "Private Law X–Y", where X is the number of the Congress and Y refers to the sequential order of the bill (when it was enacted). For example, P. L. 111–5 ( American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ) was the fifth enacted public law of

1160-585: The historical integrity of structures, sites and objects significant to the commemoration or illustration of the historical story". But because most units contained a combination of natural, historic, and recreational lands, the General Authorities Act of 1970 made all areas equal within the National Park System ; separate policy manuals for each were replaced in 1975 with one that would tailor policies in each park respective to

1200-511: The large majority of which are neither owned nor managed by the NPS. Of these, about 2,600 have been designated at the highest status as National Historic Landmark (NHL) sites. After its founding in 1916, the National Park Service initially oversaw sites of primarily scenic and natural significance, including national parks and national monuments . Historians soon began recommending preservation of sites relating to human history. Congress created Colonial National Monument in 1930 to protect

1240-588: The law is accomplished by the president, or the relevant presiding officer in the case of an overridden veto, delivering the act to the archivist of the United States . The archivist provides for its publication as a slip law and in the United States Statutes at Large after receiving the act. Thereafter, the changes are published in the United States Code . Through the process of judicial review , an act of Congress that violates

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1280-507: The monuments are to be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected. Protection of sites can include restrictions on mining, logging, grazing, commercial fishing, and hunting; known as land withdrawals, these are typically described in the presidential proclamation establishing the monument. Some areas designated as national monuments have later been converted to or incorporated into national parks or national historical parks . 28 of

1320-454: The most acreage to national monuments, mostly in areas in Alaska . On April 26, 2017, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 13792 directing a review of the law and its uses. The Act was intended to allow the president to set aside certain valuable public natural areas as park and conservation land. The 1906 act stated that it was intended for: "... the protection of objects of historic and scientific interest." These areas are given

1360-660: The necessary impetus for the passage of the legislation. The Act failed to deter purposeful, criminal looting at these protected sites and was deemed too vague, eventually resulting in passage of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 . The Antiquities Act has been praised by several groups for its ability to protect important sites, including The Wilderness Society , the National Parks Conservation Association , The Pew Charitable Trusts , and

1400-594: The purpose of zones within. National historic sites are generally federally owned and administered properties, though some remain under private or local government ownership. There are currently 86 NHSs, of which 76 are official NPS units, 9 are NPS affiliated areas, and one is managed by the United States Forest Service . Derived from the Historic Sites Act of 1935, a number of NHSs were established by United States Secretaries of

1440-430: The time limit expires, then the bill automatically becomes an act; however, if the Congress is adjourned at the end of this period, then the bill dies and cannot be reconsidered (see pocket veto ). If the president rejects a bill or resolution while the Congress is in session, a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress is needed for reconsideration to be successful. Promulgation in the sense of publishing and proclaiming

1480-492: The title of " national monuments ." It also allows the president 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 through the Congressional process of creating a national park . The Act states that areas of

1520-594: The use of the Antiquities Act in Alaska for withdrawals of greater than 5,000 acres (20 km). The Trump administration conducted a review of 27 major designations to consider changes and Trump subsequently significantly reduced the size of Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument and Bears Ears National Monument in Utah in 2017. Trump also lifted restrictions on commercial fishing at Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument . The legality of these actions

1560-419: Was challenged in federal court, and President Biden restored the original areas and protections in 2021. Although some presidents have chosen to ignore the tradition of preservation of notable environmental or historic areas, no president has entirely undone a predecessor's monument. The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld presidential proclamations under the Antiquities Act, ruling each time that

1600-625: Was the first place to be preserved as a national historic site, created by Secretary Harold L. Ickes 's secretarial order on March 17, 1938. It had followed his designation of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in 1935; many historic sites in the National Park System continue to be protected under different designation types. Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site was designated later that year, another example of industrial heritage. As

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