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Bears Ears National Monument

Op-Ed | President Trump, Please Read ‘Desert Solitaire’

In a 1973 TV spot, the United States Forest Service sage Smokey Bear admonished that “one careless second with a match and America the beautiful becomes America the ugly.” So what would Smokey say now when a few careless seconds with a pen allowed President Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to remove protections from two million acres of precious American wilderness? If courts uphold Trump’s executive orders of last December, they would reduce southern Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments by 85 and 46 percent, respectively, constituting the biggest rollback of federally protected land in American history.

Senators Hope To Reverse President Trump's Move On Monuments And Enlarge Bears Ears

Were they 18 Republican senators instead of 18 Democrats, the attempt to reverse President Trump's move to shrink two national monuments in Utah might prove worth watching, but with Republican majorities in the House and Senate, it likely will prove to be nothing more than a Hail Mary. Even more so when you realize the legislation would create a larger Bears Ears National Monument than President Obama did.

Rep. Grijalva Wants Interior Secretary To Close Bears Ears National Monument To Mining, Energy Development

Though he's probably fighting uphill, U.S. Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva wants members on the House Natural Resources Committee to sign off on a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke asking that he withdraw the land inside Bears Ears National Monument’s "traditional, lawful boundaries from new oil, gas and mining claims."

U.S. Veterans Call On Trump To Defend National Monuments

After putting their lives on the line to protect the United States and the values it stands for, more than 1,000 American military veterans — including retired high-ranking officers — signed a letter to the commander-in-chief urging him to “protect the public lands and traditions for which we fought, specifically by maintaining the boundaries and protections of the national monuments that were reviewed by Secretary Zinke.”

BLM Moving Forward To Develop Resource Management Plans For Redrawn National Monuments

Although there are pending lawsuits that challenge the legitimacy of President Trump's dismantling of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is moving forward to develop management plans that could allow mining within the original boundaries of the monuments.

House Natural Resources Committee Attacks Patagonia

It's no secret that U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop dislikes The Antiquities Act and was thrilled to see President Trump move to dismantle the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah. So it shouldn't be a great surprise that the House Natural Resources Committee that he chairs has publicly attacked Patagonia, which opposes the president's move.

UPDATE: President Trump Issues Proclamation To Shrink National Monuments, Tees Off Legal Battle

A handful of hours after President Trump on Monday issued a proclamation to chop 1 million acres off the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah a lawsuit was filed to prevent that from happening. Other groups were expected to file a similar lawsuit over the president's move to reduce Bears Ears National Monument, also in Utah, by 1 million acres.

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