An outspoken champion for the transfer of public lands to state control, Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz announced that he will not run for re-election in 2018, says The New York Times.
Chaffetz, who was chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has urged President Trump to rescind the 1.35-million-acre Bears Ears National Monument, established in the last days of the Obama administration. And along with Senator Rob Bishop, Chaffetz developed the Public Lands Initiative last year, which environmentalists claimed played into the interests of fossil fuel companies looking to develop public lands in Utah. The initiative never came up for vote in Congress.
Chaffetz also supported a statewide effort to sue the federal government if it refused to cede management of federal lands to Utah, and has come out against the Endangered Species Act, saying wildlife management is best handled at the state and local levels.
“I have long advocated public service should be for a limited time and not a lifetime or full career,” Chaffetz said in a Facebook statement about his decision to not run for re-election. “After more than 1,500 nights away from my home, it is time.”