National monument supporters rally to defend public lands from Trump cutbacks
MARANA — On a warm Saturday morning, more than 100 protesters gathered near Waterman Peak in the Ironwood Forest National Monument to voice their support for public lands protections.
At the same time over 350 miles to the north, public lands advocates gathered at the state's most recently created national monument, Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon, holding a banner reading 'Protect the Sacred.'
The rallies were part of a nationwide 'Day of Action' on June 7, in response to a push from the Trump administration to increase domestic critical mineral production on public lands after declaring a national energy emergency.
Through executive order, the president has called on the Department of Interior to review public lands that have been blocked from mining in the past, and the Department of Justice has released a legal opinion finding that presidents have the authority to reduce the size of national monuments designated by former presidents.
In April, the Washington Post reported that Interior Department officials were actively considering scaling back protections for six national monuments in the West, including two in Arizona, Ironwood Forest and Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni.
The Department of Interior did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
But the move would be consistent with actions taken by the first Trump administration, and one that public lands advocates have been anticipating since the president took office.
With the Silver Bell Mine visible in the distance, speakers from the Friends of Ironwood Forest, the Wilderness Society and the Pima County Board of Supervisors called on the public to contact their elected officials to voice their support for protecting the conserved lands.
'Hopefully enough people are calling enough congressmen that one of them will grow a spine and stand up,' said Tom Hannagan, president of the Friends of Ironwood Forest, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the permanent protection of the national monument.
Public lands: 'Fewer and smaller monuments': Republicans seek to limit the use of Antiquities Act
The rallies took place on the same weekend as the 119th anniversary of the Antiquities Act of 1906, the law that gives the president the power to protect swaths of public lands by designating them as national monuments.
While the Supreme Court has affirmed the president's power to create national monuments, it is unclear whether the president has the unilateral authority to revoke or reduce a national monument created by a previous administration.
On June 10, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel released a legal opinion concluding that the president has the power to alter or eliminate national monuments contrary to a previous legal opinion issued in 1938. Public lands advocates say the courts have disagreed.
'The Trump administration can come to whatever conclusion it likes, but the courts have upheld monuments established under the Antiquities Act for over a century," said Jennifer Rokala, executive director of Center for Western Priorities, a nonpartisan conservation organization, in a news release. "This opinion is just that, an opinion. It does not mean presidents can legally shrink or eliminate monuments at will."
'This opinion goes so far as to claim the public doesn't support the preservation of public lands as national monuments, which we know from over a decade of polling is not true," Rokala said. "In fact, public support for national monument designations has grown over the past 10 years. Once again the Trump administration finds itself on the wrong side of history and at odds with Western voters.'
In December 2017, Trump announced plans to decrease the size of two national monuments in southern Utah, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, which hold uranium and coal deposits respectively.
The order was the largest reduction in national monument protections in U.S. history, and it was immediately challenged in court through multiple lawsuits brought by environmental advocacy groups and tribal nations.
Before the cases could be settled, President Joe Biden took office and restored both monuments to their previous sizes.
In 2023, President Biden designated almost a million acres near the Grand Canyon as Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, protecting it from new uranium mining projects and other natural resource extraction at the urge of multiple tribal groups that hold the land sacred.
A 2024 poll by the Grand Canyon Trust found that 80% of Arizona voters support the monument's designation.
'Here we are back again with the pendulum swinging back towards extractive industries and away from conservation and public lands protections,' said Mike Quigley, Arizona State Director of The Wilderness Society, one of the groups that sued the Trump Administration in 2017.
'Ancestral Footprints': What to know about Arizona's newest national monument
Created by President Bill Clinton in 2000, the Ironwood Forest National Monument spans 129,000 acres of Sonoran Desert landscape. Named after one of the longest living trees in the region, the monument is also home to rich biodiversity and historical sites over 5,000 years old.
It also surrounds the Silver Bell Mine, which has produced copper and other minerals for over 70 years.
In 2017, ASARCO, the mining company that operates the Silver Bell Mine adjacent to the monument, submitted a letter to the Department of Interior in response to an executive order issued by Trump during his first term. The 2017 executive order called for a review of national monuments created after 1996.
In their letter, ASARCO advocated for the Ironwood Forest National Monument's boundaries to be adjusted to allow for increased mining activity. The company owned 880 acres of fee lands and over 4,000 acres of unpatented mining claims that it could not develop because of the designation, according to the letter.
'The (Ironwood Forest National Monument) is nothing but a disincentive for continued investment in this mine and in the state and local economy,' stated the letter.
However environmental advocates argue that the public wants to see the land preserved and undeveloped.
This year, officials from Pima County, Tucson and Marana issued proclamations recognizing June 9, 2025, as 'Ironwood Forest Day' to celebrate the monument's 25th anniversary.
On May 20, the Pima County Board of Supervisors reaffirmed their support for Ironwood Forest National Monument by voting to oppose any reduction proposed by the Trump Administration for natural resource extraction.
Want to read more about public lands? Sign up for AZ Climate, The Republic's weekly environment newsletter.
At the public lands rally, protesters carried homemade signs reading 'Hands Off Our Public Land' and 'We Love Ironwood' to show their support for the monument's boundaries before any official is taken by the Trump administration.
'We're hoping that demonstrations like today and the resolutions that were passed this week by Pima County, the city of Tucson, and the town of Marana are indicators to our congressional delegation, but also to the Trump administration, that Southern Arizonans value this place as a national monument,' said Quigley of the Wilderness Society.
If the administration moves ahead with plans to reduce the monument, Tom Hannagan of Friends of Ironwood Forest said they are ready to take legal action.
'We'll take them to court immediately, if they actually attempt to do anything,' said Hannagan.
John Leos covers environmental issues for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Send tips or questions to john.leos@arizonarepublic.com.
Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
Follow The Republic environmental reporting team at environment.azcentral.com and @azcenvironment on Facebook and Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Supporters of Arizona monuments rally against Trump cutback proposal
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