Govt faces fight over reduced monuments
UNITED STATES: US President Donald Trump yesterday took the rare step of scaling back two sprawling national monuments in Utah, declaring that ‘‘public lands will once again be for public use’’ in a move cheered by Republican leaders who lobbied him to undo protections they considered overly broad.
The decision marks the first time in half a century that a president has undone these types of land protections. Tribal and environmental groups oppose the decision and are expected to go to court in a bid to stop Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.
Trump made the plan official during a speech at the Utah State Capitol, where he signed proclamations to shrink the Bears Ears and Grand Staircaseescalante national monuments. Both monuments encompass millions of hectares of land.
Environmental and tribal groups say the designations are needed to protect important archaeological and cultural resources, especially the more than 502,000ha Bears Ears site featuring thousands of Native American artefacts, including ancient cliff dwellings and petroglyphs. Trump argued that the people of Utah knew best how to care for their land.
‘‘Some people think that the natural resources of Utah should be controlled by a small handful of very distant bureaucrats located in Washington,’’ Trump said. ‘‘And guess what? They’re wrong.’’
Roughly 3000 demonstrators lined up near the State Capitol to protest Trump’s announcement. Some held signs that said, ‘‘Keep your tiny hands off our public lands’’. A smaller group gathered in support, including some who said they favoured potential drilling or mining that could create jobs. Bears Ears has no oil or gas, Zinke told reporters, though Grand Staircase-escalante has coal.
‘‘Your timeless bond with the outdoors should not be replaced with the whims of regulators thousands and thousands of miles away,’’ Trump said. ‘‘I’ve come to Utah to take a very historic action to reverse federal overreach and restore the rights of this land to your citizens.’’
Bears Ears, created last December by President Barack Obama, will be reduced by about 85 per cent, to 81,693ha. Grand Staircaseescalante, designated in 1996 by President Bill Clinton, will be reduced from nearly 768,902ha to 406,248ha.
Patagonia President and CEO Rose Marcario said the outdoor apparel company would join the expected court fight against the monument reduction, which she described as the ‘‘largest elimination of protected land in American history’’.
No president has tried to eliminate a monument, but some have reduced or redrawn the boundaries on 18 occasions, according to the National Park Service. The most recent instance came in 1963, when President John F Kennedy slightly downsized Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico. –AP