Interior secretary to visit Katahdin Woods & Waters this week
Courtesy / Jeff Pidot, National Resources Council of Maine
A view of the east branch of the Penobscot River from within a section of the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument during the fall. U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is visiting the monument Wednesday as part of his review of 27 national monuments nationwide that was ordered by President Trump earlier this year.
U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke will visit the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument on Wednesday as part of the review ordered by President Trump.
On Thursday, he will attend a breakfast meeting with the Katahdin Chamber of Commerce and local council members in Millinocket. He also plans to meet with the Penobscot Nation and the Maine Woods Coalition.
Zinke plans to hold a press briefing in Augusta, also on Thursday, though the time has not been set, according to a press release from the Interior Department.
Trump ordered a review of 27 national monuments to determine whether their status should be revoked or the number could be reduced. The monuments were designated by Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
As part of the review of national monuments, Zinke has already made a similar stop in Utah, where he visited Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments and listened to opinions on the issue.
On Monday, Zinke delivered an interim report on Bears Ears National Monument, a 1.3-million-acre landscape that includes ancient cliff dwellings and land sacred to Pueblo Indians that President Obama designated as a monument in 2016. Zinke said he was recommending the boundary to Bear Ears be revised through “the use of appropriate authority." http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/12/politics/bears-ears-delay-decision/index.html
Mills prepared to challenge any 'undoing' of Katahdin monument
Maine Attorney General Janet Mills issued a statement Monday expressing concern with the Department of Interior’s review of Katahdin Woods & Waters and 26 other national monuments.
“The president cannot rely on this process as a pretext to take the unprecedented and unlawful step of undoing the designation of a national monument under the Antiquities Act,” she said in a news release sent to Mainebiz. “We are prepared to challenge any unlawful executive branch action that purports to abolish or reduce the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. DOI should instead terminate its review of the Katahdin Woods and Waters designation and reaffirm the agency’s commitment to making the Monument work well for all people, particularly the residents of the Katahdin region who are now counting on it for their economic future.”
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Maine Attorney General Janet Mill's filing with U.S. Department of Interior
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