Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

12 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Willing to Let Migrant Farm Laborers Stay in US

13 hours ago

US Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks Will Expire on Sept. 30

1 day ago

Eyeing Arctic Dominance, Trump Bill Earmarks $8.6 Billion for US Coast Guard Icebreakers

1 day ago

Trump’s Sweeping Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Wins Congressional Approval

1 day ago

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

1 day ago

US Supreme Court to Decide Legality of Transgender School Sports Bans

2 days ago

Nvidia Set to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company in History

2 days ago

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

2 days ago
Magsig Says 'Range of Light' Prospects Are as Dark as Night
Edward Smith updated website photo 2024
By Edward Smith
Published 5 months ago on
January 24, 2025

Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig said President Donald Trump's ascension to office brings an effective end to the Range of Light National Monument proposal. (GV Wire Composite/Paul Marshall)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig wrote on Facebook Friday that with President Donald Trump’s election, a plan to designate 1.4 million acres of the Sierra National Forest as a national monument “has been prevented.”

Similarly, two U.S. Congressmembers introduced a bill to make it so only lawmakers can set large swaths of land aside.

“Congress, not the executive branch, has jurisdiction to make decisions on public land,” said Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-Utah). “Congress trusted presidents with a narrow authority to declare national monuments in the Antiquities Act. Unfortunately, presidents have continued to abuse that narrow authority to designate millions of acres of land in Utah and across the West without proper congressional oversight.”

Magsig authored a letter supporting the Ending Presidential Overreach on Public Lands Act.

The Range of Light national monument would have encompassed 1.4 million acres in the Sierra National Forest. (UnitetheParks.org)

Range of Light Didn’t Make Biden’s Cut

The Range of Light proposal would have limited logging, mining, grazing, and recreational uses throughout the forest that connects the Yosemite and Sequoia-Kings Canyon national parks. Proponents of the plan said a national monument designation and administration under the National Park Service would have better protected the park than under the U.S. Forest Service.

The Range of Light Monument would have included Huntington, Edison, and Shaver lakes. A group of Democratic state lawmakers petitioned Gov. Gavin Newsom to pressure former President Joe Biden to make the designation.

Opponents said it would have decreased access, taken away off-roaders’ access to the land, and limited park uses without consulting the public.

The Range of Light didn’t make Biden’s cut, however.

In his administration’s final days, he created the Chuckwalla and Sáttítla national monuments. The 624,000-acre Chuckwalla monument lies south of Joshua Tree National Park. The 224,000-acre Sáttítla monument lies on the Oregon border.

Presidential Overreach Act Gives Congress Sole Power to Protect Lands

The Ending Presidential Overreach on Public Lands Act bill undoes much of the powers given to the president in the 1906 Antiquities Act. President Theodore Roosevelt intended it to give presidents a way to protect lands of historic or natural significance.

Some lawmakers have criticized the act, saying it has gone too far.

Maloy said in her bill that Biden’s America the Beautiful Initiative “resulted in entire communities being prevented from using the resources in entire communities being prevented from using the resources in their own backyards for recreational or economic use.”

U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) is chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. He put forward a companion bill.

Utah has had a back-and-forth for the Bears Ears National Monument, which was established by President Barack Obama in2016. President Donald Trump eliminated 85% of the monument a year later only to see Biden restore the removed territory in 2021.

Native American tribes have long called for the protection of Bears Ears, as they have for Chuckwalla and Sáttítla.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

DON'T MISS

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

DON'T MISS

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

DON'T MISS

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

DON'T MISS

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

DON'T MISS

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

DON'T MISS

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rachelle Maria Blanco

DON'T MISS

Russia Pounds Kyiv With Largest Drone Attack, Hours After Trump-Putin Call

UP NEXT

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

UP NEXT

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

UP NEXT

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

UP NEXT

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

UP NEXT

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

UP NEXT

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

UP NEXT

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rachelle Maria Blanco

UP NEXT

Russia Pounds Kyiv With Largest Drone Attack, Hours After Trump-Putin Call

UP NEXT

Boxer Chavez Jr Expected to Be Deported to Mexico to Serve Sentence, Mexican President Says

Edward Smith,
Multimedia Journalist
Edward Smith began reporting for GV Wire in May 2023. His reporting career began at Fresno City College, graduating with an associate degree in journalism. After leaving school he spent the next six years with The Business Journal, doing research for the publication as well as covering the restaurant industry. Soon after, he took on real estate and agriculture beats, winning multiple awards at the local, state and national level. You can contact Edward at 559-440-8372 or at Edward.Smith@gvwire.com.

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

12 hours ago

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

12 hours ago

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

12 hours ago

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

12 hours ago

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

12 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rachelle Maria Blanco

12 hours ago

Russia Pounds Kyiv With Largest Drone Attack, Hours After Trump-Putin Call

12 hours ago

Boxer Chavez Jr Expected to Be Deported to Mexico to Serve Sentence, Mexican President Says

13 hours ago

Markets’ 90-Day Tariff Pause Rollercoaster Nears an Uncertain End

13 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Willing to Let Migrant Farm Laborers Stay in US

13 hours ago

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

President Donald Trump is scheduled to sign a massive package of tax and spending cuts into law at a ceremony at the White House on Friday, ...

11 hours ago

President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 12, 2025. (Reuters File)
11 hours ago

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

The Madre Fire burning near New Cuyama has scorched 70,801 acres as of Friday, July 4, 2025, afternoon, making it California’s largest wildfire of the year, with only 10% containment and multiple evacuation zones in place. (CalFire)
11 hours ago

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

11 hours ago

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

A pumpjack operates at the Vermilion Energy site in Trigueres, France, June 14, 2024. (Reuters File)
12 hours ago

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

Palestinians gather to collect what remains of relief supplies from the distribution center of the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 5, 2025. (Reuters File)
12 hours ago

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

Billy Wayne Sinisgalli, a 54-year-old transient known locally as Wayne, was found dead along a rural Fresno road Wednesday in what authorities are investigating as a suspicious death. (Fresno County SO)
12 hours ago

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

Israel Builds a Fence Around the West Bank
12 hours ago

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

A view of the site of Thursday's Israeli strike that damaged and destroyed residential buildings, at Shati (Beach) refugee camp, in Gaza City, July 4, 2025. (Reuters/Mahmoud Issa)
12 hours ago

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend