I was happy to hear that on August 11, Federal District Court Judge David Nuffer granted a motion to dismiss lawsuits filed by the State of Utah and Garfield and Kane Counties challenging President Biden's restoration of the boundaries of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments. Judge Nuffer wrote, "In spite of the sincere and deeply held view of the Plaintiffs, there is no relief for them in this action. It has long been held that where Congress has authorized a public officer to take some specified legislative action when in his judgment that action is necessary or appropriate to carry out the policy of Congress, the judgment of the officer as to the existence of the facts calling for that action is not subject to review. President Biden’s judgment in drafting and issuing the Proclamations as he sees fit is not an action reviewable by a district court.
Steve Bloch, Legal Director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, “Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments are two of the most significant, intact, and extraordinary public landscapes in America—landscapes that will remain protected after today’s dismissal of these lawsuits. We are thrilled with today’s decision, which aligns with more than one hundred years of similar court rulings that have rejected every challenge to Presidential authority under the Antiquities Act to protect cultural, scientific, ecological, and paleontological resources on public lands.” Of course the battle is unlikely to stop there. The plaintiffs have already begun the process of filing an appeal, but Judge Nuffer's decision is very good news.
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