While World Watches Washington, Utah Lawmakers Push to Eliminate Bears Ears and Shrink Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments
While the world is watching Washington, Utah Lawmakers move to try and Eliminate Bears’ Ears and Shrink Escalante Staircase National Monuments.
Reading the resolutions (HCR11 and HCR12), there is a clear summary to be found which reads like someone saying “There’s money to be made there. We should take advantage of that”
Either way, and amid what appears to be “shoulder-to-shoulder” opposition to the move, there seems to be nobody actually asking the local stakeholders what they want with the land:
“I wish the new secretary of the interior and the Trump administration would come down and listen to what we have to say,” [Davis Filfred, a member of the Navajo Nation Council] said. “We just want to be heard. … I wish they would come out and see the land.” #
It’s worth noting that the Escalante decision is listed under the name of House Speaker Greg Hughes, but being pushed by Representative Mike Noel (R-Kanab), being considered by Donald Trump for Director of the Bureau of Land Management, so all this might be just a really big job application that, unfortunately, would have lifetimes of consequences for Utahns even after Noel and Hughes (who was also vying for a Trump cabinet post but was not selected) get what they want from Washington and move on to other pastures.
Noel, from Kanab, has been active against protecting all these lands for quite a long time.
