Aiexpress – Chris Heaton, a sixth-generation rancher, has filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration, alleging the misuse of the Antiquities Act to designate one million acres of land in Arizona as a national monument.
“The Antiquities Act aims to safeguard Native American archeological sites, rather than granting presidents unchecked authority to designate extensive areas of land and sea as off-limits for productive purposes,” emphasized Frank Garrison, an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation. “In our democratic system, it is Congress that enacts laws, and presidents are not permitted to disregard the limitations imposed by Congress on their powers.”
The statute restricts the size of a monument to only what is necessary for the proper care and management of legally protected objects.
President Biden went beyond the Antiquities Act by designating the “Ancestral Footprints National Monument,” which includes entire landscapes, species, plants, and various other objects.
According to the lawsuit, the expansive definition of “object” goes against the restrictions set by the Antiquities Act. This is because the million acres included in the monument exceeds the Act’s limitations on the size of such designations.
In a previous case challenging an excessively large monument designation, the Supreme Court decided not to hear it. Chief Justice Roberts expressed concern, stating that the statute allowing the President to designate monuments without any clear limitations has turned into a power that can set aside vast and undefined areas of land and sea.
Heaton is passionately advocating for his family’s longstanding right to use the land they have been ranching for six generations. He firmly believes in the importance of upholding the Constitution’s principle of separation of powers, not just for the current Biden administration but also for future presidents.
