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Utah Delegation Asks President Obama Not To Use Antiquities Act In Utah

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Published Date

February 12, 2016

Utah's congressional delegation has asked President Obama not to use the Antiquities Act to create a Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah.

In quick reaction to President Obama's use of the Antiquities Act to designate three national monuments in California, members of Utah's congressional delegation have asked the president specifically not to use his powers under that Act to designate a monument in southeastern Utah.

Interior Department officials announced late Thursday that the president would designate Castle Mountains National Monument, Sand to Snow National Monument, and Mojave Trails National Monument in California, and made a point of noting that there was great local support for the designations. Supporters of protecting these areas include local counties and cities, area business groups, tribes, hunters, anglers, faith-based organizations, recreationists, local land trusts and conservation groups, and students from local schools, the release said.

By midday Friday the Utah delegation announced that it had sent a letter to the president "expressing strong opposition to the use of the Antiquities Act to create a national monument within San Juan County."

The land in question, some 1.9 million acres, has been discussed as a potential national monument for some time. While Native American tribes have wanted to see establishment of a Bears Ears National Monument, U.S. Reps. Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz, both Utah Republicans, have proposed a 1.2-million-acre Bears Ears National Conservation Area. 

In their letter to the president -- signed by Sens. Orin Hatch and Mike Lee, and Reps. Bishop, Chaffetz, Stewart, and Mia Love -- the delegation stated that "(F)ederal land-use policy has a major impact on the lives of those residing within and near federal lands. We believe the wisest land-use decisions are made with community involvement and local support. This principle is true whether skyscrapers or sagebrush surround the community.

“Use of the Antiquities Act within will be met with fierce local opposition and will further polarize federal land-use discussions for years, if not decades. We believe the wisest land-use decisions are made with community involvement and local support. This principle is true whether skyscrapers or sagebrush surround a community. Use of the Antiquities Act within will be met with fierce local opposition and will further polarize federal land-use discussions for years, if not decades."

Comments

Might want to run a referendum on the opinions of the people who live in the area.  Make sure this isn't another application of the Golden Rule:  them's that got the gold make the rules in Utah.


Quite the opposite.  Many more than one referendum has been taken througout Utah.  Results have been favorable to monument creation every time.  It's a protection from another popular version of the Golden Rule: Them that whines the loudest is the ones that gets all the attention.


I work for the Protect Our Parks Coalition in Cincinnati, OH and commend what President Obama is doing to save the last remnants of our wild places, along with the ecosystem services they provide.  According to the Outdoor Industry Association, outdoor recreation provides 6.1 million people with jobs (non-exportable) and nearly $80 billion in local, state, and federal tax revenue. In 2016 we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the national park system; we should have our representatives praise President Obama for protecting our parks. Instead, in the 114th congress, there have been over 75 attempts to weaken or repeal the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Antiquities Act. These programs allow us to create and maintain parks and monuments for future generations.  At a time when America’s need for wilderness has never been more dire, it is embarrassing that we have politicians actively working to undermine our national treasures and the public’s liberty to enjoy them. Wilderness can exist without Freedom, but Freedom cannot exist without Wilderness.


If that is true, Lee why don't the voters vote in someone for monument creation?

 


President Obama is not Theodore Roosevelt. Suffice it to say that TR proclaimed national monuments that actually withdrew the public lands from occupancy, sale, or settlement. All that Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama have done is reclassify the existing public domain. Sure, they wind up looking "presidential," but for the most part it is a political stunt. Those lands are already in the public domain. When will these national monuments "mean" anything? Only when they are fully staffed, funded, and maintained, and for that history is not holding its breath.

The Washington Establishment loves moments like this. You get a freebie for having done nothing. Why is the Utah delegation asking for a "stay?" Because the last time they asked they got 185,000 acres of federal coal lands. Not a bad trade for a couple of national monuments the people already owned.

When should we get "excited?" Again, when these monuments are funded. Is President Obama prepared to do that? Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, or Donald Trump? Note the absence in this presidential campaign of serious talk about the national parks. Rather it is just more grandstanding. But again, why spoil "feeling good" with the facts? 


I think that he should be able to do that. Seems like a good idea .


I just found a great short video on the Salt Lake Tribune's website.  About Zion, it's one of a series of national park videos planned by brothers Jim and Will Pattiz.  I'll toss it in here because this is about as good a place as any to share this with others -- and to remind us all that Zion is just one of many parks that were originally saved by a president who used the Antiquities Act.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/3531936-155/brothers-produce-stunning-video-o...

It's just four minutes long and well worth watching.


thank you for the video. it was just wonderful.


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