When President Trump visits Utah in December, he will announce reductions in the size of the 1.35-million-acre Bears Ears and the 1.9-million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, “a move that is likely to spur an instant court battle,” said the Salt Lake Tribune. Trump told Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, “I’m approving the Bears Ears recommendation for you … ” according to the senator’s office.
In late summer, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke put Bears Ears and Grand Staircase on a list of four national monuments that should be smaller. The recommendation was the final step of a review ordered by Trump, who said designations of national monuments amounted to “executive land grabs.” Business leaders often view national monuments as a throttle on local industry and dismiss tourism as a fickle source of income.
The 1906 Antiquities Act empowers the president to create national monuments on federal land to protect “historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures and other objects of historic or scientific interest.” The law says national monuments should be “the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects to be protected.” A 1938 attorney general’s opinion says presidents can create the monuments but not abolish them. There are more than 100 national monuments.
Several environmental groups said they would go to court to block changes to national monuments.
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert told the Salt Lake City newspaper that Trump told him the new boundaries for Bears Ears would “honor” the state’s recommendation. There was no official word of what the new boundaries would be. Utah suggested a 120,000-acre monument, less than 10 percent of the current size of Bears Ears.
Hatch told reporters that Trump “told me Bears Ears would be the way I said it should be,” said the Salt Lake Tribune, but the senator offered no specifics. Hatch also said Trump would modify the Grand Staircase to allow coal mining in the Kaiparowits Plateau, said the newspaper.
“On Wednesday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross submitted his own report on how to treat nearly a dozen marine national monuments and national marine sanctuaries, which was not released to the public,” said the Washington Post. Interior Department officials questioned aspects of the Commerce review, “according to individuals briefed on the interagency process,” said the Post, with suggestions that Commerce under-estimated the value of energy exploration. Commerce would allow commercial fishing in some areas that have been off-limits.