Overview. This Act authorizes the President to declare federal lands as national monuments for the purpose of protecting sites and objects of antiquity.

National Monuments for Objects of Historic Importance. The President is authorized to issue presidential proclamations declaring as national monuments historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the U.S. This may include reservation of land, limited to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected. When the objects are on land that is privately owned or has an unperfected claim of ownership, the portion of the land necessary for care and management of the object may be relinquished to the federal government. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to accept the relinquishment of such land. Only Congress may authorize any further extension or establishment of national monuments in Wyoming. §§ 431 and 431a.

Permits. The Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture and Army may grant permits to qualified institutions for examination of ruins, excavation of archaeological sites and gathering of objects of antiquity on lands under their respective jurisdictions. These activities must be undertaken for the benefit of reputable museums, universities, colleges or other recognized scientific or educational institutions, with a goal of increasing the knowledge of such objects. Gatherings must be made for permanent preservation in public museums. The Secretaries are required to issue regulations to carry out the Act. § 432.

Violations. It is illegal for a person to appropriate, excavate, injure or destroy an historic or prehistoric ruin or monument, or an object of antiquity, situated on lands owned or controlled by the U.S., without permission of the Secretary of the department with jurisdiction over the lands. Violators are subject to a fine or imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or both. § 433.

Editor's Note. The U.S. Supreme Court in Cappaert v. United States, 426 U.S. 128 (1976), found that this Act can be used to protect both a site and its rare inhabitants. The Court ruled that an underground pool and a unique species of desert fish inhabiting it were objects of historic or scientific interest that could be declared a national monument under the Act.