WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will sign executive orders this week aimed at expanding offshore oil drilling and reviewing national monument designations made by his predecessors, continuing the Republican's assault on Democratic President Barack Obama's environmental legacy. 
 
 The orders could expand oil drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans and upend public lands protections put in place in Utah, Maine and other states. The Antiquities Act of 1906 authorizes the president to declare federal lands of historic or scientific value to be "national monuments" and restrict how the lands can be used. 
 
 Administration officials on Monday confirmed the expected moves. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss the president's upcoming actions. 
 
 Obama used his power under the Antiquities Act to permanently preserve more land and water using national monument designations than any other president. The land is generally off limits to timber harvesting, mining and pipelines, and commercial development. 
 
 Utah Republicans were infuriated when Obama created the Bears Ears National Monument in December on more than 1 million acres of land that's sacred to Native Americans and home to tens of thousands of archaeological sites, including ancient cliff dwellings. 
 
 Republicans also objected when Obama created the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine last summer on 87,500 acres of donated forestland. The expanse includes part of the Penobscot River and stunning views of Mount Katahdin, Maine's tallest mountain. 
 
 Republicans have asked Trump to reverse the two designations, saying they add an unnecessary layer of federal control and could stymie commercial development. 
 
 Trump's staff has been reviewing the decisions to determine economic impacts, whether the law was followed and whether there was appropriate consultation with local officials. 
 
 Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said he was grateful that Trump was moving to roll back what Hatch called "massive federal land grabs" by presidents dating to Bill Clinton. Hatch and other Utah Republicans have long lamented Clinton's 1996 designation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah. 
 
 "For years, I have fought every step of the way to ensure that our lands are managed by the Utahans that know them best and cherish them deeply," Hatch said in a statement. "That's why I'm committed to rolling back the egregious abuse of the Antiquities Act to serve far-left special interests," including Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. 
 
 Environmental groups blasted Trump's action. 
 
 "Utah's national monuments are our first line of defense against the very real specter of climate change, providing resiliency to not only the species within them, but also to nearby communities," said Jen Ujifusa, legislative director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. "President Trump and the Utah delegation should focus their energies on solving America's challenges, rather than unraveling the solutions that are already working." 
 
 Trump also is taking aim at Obama's action to restrict offshore drilling, notably a December order designating the bulk of U.S.-owned waters in the Arctic Ocean and certain areas in the Atlantic Ocean as indefinitely off limits to future oil and gas leasing. 
 
 The move was seen as an effort to put some finishing touches on Obama's environmental legacy while also testing Trump's promise to unleash the nation's untapped energy reserves. 
 
 Obama cited an arcane provision in a 1953 law to ban offshore leases in the waters permanently. The statute says "the president of the United States may, from time to time, withdraw from disposition any of the unleased lands of the outer Continental Shelf." 
 
 White House officials said when Obama imposed the order they were confident it would withstand legal challenge, adding that the language of the statute provides no authority for subsequent presidents to undo permanent withdrawals. Environmental groups say a similar logic applies to national monuments and note that no president has acted to undo a monument designation made by a predecessor. 
 
 The Atlantic waters placed off-limits to new oil and gas leasing are 31 canyons stretching off the coast of New England south to Virginia. Existing leases aren't affected. 
 
 While Trump appears eager to issue executive orders before his first 100 days as president, the drilling order is "ill-timed, falling just one week after the seventh anniversary of the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history," said Dustin Cranor, a spokesman for the environmental group Oceana. He was referring to the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 Expanding offshore drilling into now-restricted areas in the Arctic and Atlantic would put vibrant ocean ecosystems at risk and harm businesses, including tourism, recreation and fishing, Cranor said. 
 
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 Follow Matthew Daly: http://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC ||||| SALT LAKE CITY — President Barack Obama designated two national monuments Wednesday at sites in Utah and Nevada that have become key flashpoints over use of public land in the U.S. West, marking the administration's latest move to protect environmentally sensitive areas in its final days. 
 
 The Bears Ears National Monument in Utah will cover 1.35 million acres in the Four Corners region, the White House said. In a victory for Native American tribes and conservationists, the designation protects land that is considered sacred and is home to an estimated 100,000 archaeological sites, including ancient cliff dwellings. 
 
 It's a blow for state Republican leaders and many rural residents who say it will add another layer of unnecessary federal control and close the area to new energy development, a common refrain in the battle over use of the American West's vast open spaces. Utah's attorney general vowed to sue. 
 
 This April 5, 2012 file photo shows rock formations in Gold Butte, located about 90 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Jeff Scheid / AP 
 
 In Nevada, a 300,000-acre Gold Butte National Monument outside Las Vegas would protect a scenic and ecologically fragile area near where rancher Cliven Bundy led an armed standoff with government agents in 2014. It includes rock art, artifacts, rare fossils and recently discovered dinosaur tracks. 
 
 The White House and conservationists said both sites were at risk of looting and vandalism. 
 
 "Today's actions will help protect this cultural legacy and will ensure that future generations are able to enjoy and appreciate these scenic and historic landscapes," Obama said in a statement. 
 
 Related: Obama to Create First Marine National Monument in the Atlantic 
 
 His administration has rushed to safeguard vulnerable areas ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration. It has blocked new mining claims outside Yellowstone National Park and new oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean. Obama's creation and expansion of monuments covers more acreage than any other president. 
 
 But Trump's upcoming presidency has tempered the excitement of tribal leaders and conservationists, with some worrying he could try to reverse or reduce some of Obama's expansive land protections. 
 
 Utah's Republican senators vowed to work toward just that. 
 
 "This arrogant act by a lame duck president will not stand," U.S. Sen. Mike Lee tweeted about Bears Ears, which is named for a set of rock formations. 
 
 I will work tirelessly with Congress & incoming Trump administration to honor the will of Utahns and undo this monument designation. #utpol — Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) December 28, 2016 
 
 Sen. Orrin Hatch said Obama showed "an astonishing and egregious abuse of executive power" and that "far-left special interest groups matter more to him than the people who have lived on and cared for Utah's lands for generations." 
 
 Christy Goldfuss, managing director of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said the Antiquities Act that allows a president to create monuments does not give a president authority to undo a designation, a rule the courts have upheld. She acknowledged that Congress could take action, though. 
 
 Related: President Obama Designates Stonewall a National Monument 
 
 Opponents agreed the area is a natural treasure worth preserving but worried the designation would restrict oil and gas development as well as residents' ability to camp, bike, hike and gather wood. 
 
 New mining or energy development will be banned, but existing operations won't be affected, federal officials said. Wood and plant gathering is still allowed as well as hunting, fishing and other recreation, they said. 
 
 The Colorado River winds around the northern reaches of the proposed Bear Ears National Monument, with Canyonlands National Park in the background, viewed from Dead Horse Point State Park near Moab, Utah, 12 November 2016. JIM LO SCALZO / EPA 
 
 Members of Utah's all-GOP congressional delegation had backed a plan to protect about 1.4 million acres at Bears Ears, while opening up other areas of the state for development. 
 
 The boundaries of the monument are roughly based on that plan — significantly smaller than what a coalition of tribes had sought. 
 
 But Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye called it an exciting day for his tribe and people of all cultures. 
 
 "We have always looked to Bears Ears as a place of refuge," Begaye said. "The rocks, the winds, the land — they are living, breathing things that deserve timely and lasting protection." 
 
 The Navajo Nation is one of five tribes that will get an elected official on a first-of-its-kind tribal commission for the Bears Ears monument. It will provide federal land managers with expertise about the area, officials said. 
 
 Related: First Family National Parks Vacation Highlights Obama's Environmental Push 
 
 Tucked between existing national parks and the Navajo reservation, the monument features stunning vistas at every turn, with a mix of cliffs, plateaus, towering rock formations, rivers and canyons across wide expanses covered by sagebrush and juniper trees. 
 
 At the Gold Butte site, Native American rock art and artifacts are scattered amid rugged mountains, sandstone formations and Joshua tree forests. Pioneers used the area for cattle ranching and mining, while campers and ATV riders enjoy it today. It's named for an early 1900s mining town. 
 
 2 new national monuments protect gorgeous landscapes, important cultural sites & wildlife habitat for future gens: https://t.co/02leB01DUV pic.twitter.com/a113oZELY6 — US Dept of Interior (@Interior) December 28, 2016 
 
 Retiring Democratic Sen. Harry Reid pushed for protection of the remote area northeast of Lake Mead, but GOP members of Nevada's congressional delegation have been vocal opponents. 
 
 The "designation is a wonderful capstone to a career of fighting to protect Nevada's pristine landscapes," Reid said in a statement. 
 
 Nevada Sen. Dean Heller and Gov. Brian Sandoval, both Republicans, said Congress should make land designations. 
 
 But the governor said he "recognized the inevitability" of the move and met with landowners and White House officials to ensure it aligned with state water law and the land would be open to recreation.
– President Donald Trump will sign executive orders this week aimed at expanding offshore oil drilling and reviewing national monument designations made by his predecessors, continuing the Republican's assault on Democratic President Barack Obama's environmental legacy. The orders could expand oil drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans and upend public lands protections put in place in Utah, Maine, and other states, the AP reports. The Antiquities Act of 1906 authorizes the president to declare federal lands of historic or scientific value to be "national monuments" and restrict how the lands can be used. Obama used his power under the Antiquities Act to permanently preserve more land and water using national monument designations than any other president. The land is generally off limits to timber harvesting, mining and pipelines, and commercial development. Utah Republicans were infuriated when Obama created the Bears Ears National Monument in December on more than 1 million acres of land that's sacred to Native Americans and home to tens of thousands of archaeological sites, including ancient cliff dwellings. Republicans also objected when Obama created the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine last summer on 87,500 acres of donated forestland. The expanse includes part of the Penobscot River and stunning views of Mount Katahdin, Maine's tallest mountain. Republicans have asked Trump to reverse the two designations, saying they add an unnecessary layer of federal control and could stymie commercial development. Trump's staff has been reviewing the decisions to determine economic impacts, whether the law was followed, and whether there was appropriate consultation with local officials. Sources tell the Salt Lake Tribune the review Trump will order was prompted by the Bears Ears designation but will look at designations as far back as Bill Clinton's presidency.