Salem, Ore. • A dispute over acts of Congress in 1906 and 1937 has put the Trump administration in court — and into the unusual position of supporting a proclamation by former President Barack Obama.
Contrary to President Donald Trump's numerous efforts to shred Obama's legacy, U.S. Justice Department lawyers are in Obama's corner as they defend his expansion of a national monument in Oregon.
That puts the Trump administration in direct opposition with timber interests that Trump vowed to defend in a May 2016 campaign speech in Eugene, 110 miles south of Portland.
However, that opposition may be temporary in a case full of ironic twists that centers on a unique habitat where three mountain ranges converge.