AUSTIN – Today, BlueRibbon Coalition joined a lawsuit filed by the Texas Public Policy Foundation to challenge the constitutionality of the Biden administration’s creation of the 624,000-acre Chuckwalla National Monument in January. This lame duck land grab by the federal government makes public lands less accessible for recreation, amateur mining, and other uses; creates more red tape; and prevents new roads from being opened.
When Congress passed the Antiquities Act of 1906 allowing U.S. presidents to designate national monuments, it was clear at the time that the bill was intended for much smaller areas of land. Presidents have pushed the limits of this power over the years and it is time to return this power to Congress.
TPPF attorneys are representing Dan Torongo, whose family has had a claim for amateur mining in the Chuckwalla Mountains for four generations, and the BlueRibbon Coalition, a national non-profit dedicated to maintaining recreational access to public lands.
“The Chuckwalla National Monument is illegal and unconstitutional,” said TPPF Senior Attorney Matt Miller. “Unfortunately, presidents will keep abusing the Antiquities Act until the courts stop them. Congress intended national monument designations to be used to protect discrete sites and objects—like a particular cliff dwelling or ruin. Presidents Clinton, Obama and, now, Biden, have instead used the Act to close millions of acres of public land at the stroke of a pen. Either this is an abuse of the Antiquities Act or the Antiquities Act is itself an unconstitutional delegation of Congress’s power to the executive branch. The Constitution entrusts Congress with these kinds of decisions and does not allow the legislative branch to abdicate this responsibility.”
TPPF Attorney Anelise Powers added, “The earliest national monuments were between 160-1,000 acres, but now presidents are designating millions of acres at a time. It is abundantly clear that Congress never intended for the Antiquities Act to be used in this way, but that has not prevented the Executive branch from using the Act as a vehicle to acquire extensive control over essentially all public lands. For this reason, sitting members of the U.S. Supreme Court have indicated an interest in reviewing the Antiquities Act.”
“My family has utilized the Small Miners Act of 1872 to claim and maintain mineral rights in the Chuckwalla Mountains since 1981; we have built a treasure trove of great memories in the process,” said Dan Torongo, one of the plaintiffs in the case. “This all ended on January 14, 2025, when a lame duck president chose to steal mineral rights from citizens like me.”
“The Chuckwalla National Monument is the latest example of a president abusing the limited powers of the Antiquities Act to restrict access to hundreds of thousands of acres of public land,” said BlueRibbon Coalition Executive Director Ben Burr. “Our California members use this area for camping, off-roading, exploring, and rockhounding, and the Monument Proclamation makes it clear that this designation will prevent our members from being able to fully enjoy these activities. The Property Clause of the Constitution gives Congress the authority to define management of federal government land, and the Congress can’t delegate its Constitutional powers to the President. The courts must restore the important guardrails of our Constitution, or presidents will continue abusing the Antiquities Act through an amorphous power grab with no discernible limits.”
To read the text of the complaint, click here.
Explore Trails at Risk of Closure in Chuckwalla National Monument and Other Monument Designations in Lost Trails Guidebook: Volume 3
