The Antiquities Act: A Century of American Archaeology, Historic Preservation, and Nature Conservation

Description

Editors: Harmon, David; McManamon, Francis P.; and Pitcaithley, Dwight T.

Publisher: University of Arizona Press

Pub Date: 2006

Binding: Paperback

Condition: Good.  Binding tight.  No marks, tears, bends or folds.  Appears unused.

Notes:  The Antiquities Act of 1906 has always been controversial.  The Act itself states that the President is authorized to “…declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated on upon the lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States to be national monuments, and may reserve as a part thereof parcels of land the limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects to be protected.”  Historic?  Scientific?  Smallest?  Ask the folks whose ox is being gored.  Edgar Lee Hewett may be the godfather of the Act and Theodore Roosevelt was the first President to use the Act (Devil’s Tower in Wyoming), but Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama were the Presidents who really pushed the envelope–Carter primarily in Alaska–104 million acres set aside, and Obama–265 million acres of land and water.  Is that a Bear’s Ear I see?