Interior Secretary Zinke Recommends Reducing Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument ↳ Part of Series

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke submitted formal recommendations to President Trump on August 24, 2017, proposing boundary reductions for Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in southern Oregon. The recommendations followed an administrative review of 27 national monuments designated or expanded since 1996 under the Antiquities Act. Despite the proposal, the Trump administration never implemented changes to this monument, leaving its expanded boundaries intact.

Documents leaked in September 2017 revealed that Zinke's report specifically advocated removing approximately 40,000 acres of Oregon and California Revested Lands from monument protection to "allow sustained-yield timber production" under the 1937 O&C Act. This recommendation directly challenged President Obama's January 2017 expansion of the monument, which had increased protections for a biodiverse convergence zone where the Cascade, Siskiyou, and Klamath mountain ranges meet. The American Forest Resources Council had already filed suit against the expansion, arguing that Congress had mandated those particular lands for timber harvest rather than preservation.

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum immediately threatened legal action if the administration attempted implementation, asserting that neither the President nor the Interior Secretary possessed statutory authority under the Antiquities Act or Federal Land Policy and Management Act to unilaterally diminish monument designations. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson pledged support for potential litigation. The scientific community rallied behind the expanded boundaries, with more than 200 researchers signing letters supporting the monument's protection, while the public comment period generated 242,000 comments favoring the expanded boundaries.

Zinke's recommendations also targeted Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah for significant reductions. The Trump administration acted on those Utah monuments in December 2017, substantially shrinking their boundaries. However, Cascade-Siskiyou remained untouched throughout Trump's presidency, leaving both the expanded monument boundaries and the unresolved legal questions about presidential reduction authority in place for this particular site. President Clinton had originally designated the monument in 2000 as the first national monument specifically established to protect biological diversity.