U.S. interior secretary looks to restore Utah monuments slashed by Trump
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[April 08, 2021]
By Valerie Volcovici
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Interior
Secretary Deb Haaland will kick off a two-day visit to Utah on Thursday
where she will meet with tribes and political officials to discuss the
potential restoration of two national monuments that were slashed in
size by former President Donald Trump in order to open them to mining
and drilling.
The visit is the centerpiece of Haaland’s first multi-state tour since
being confirmed last month as the first Native American cabinet member,
and will hold symbolic power given the importance of the monuments to
Southwestern tribes.
Haaland, whose job gives her oversight of America’s vast public and
tribal lands, will visit Utah’s San Juan and Kane counties to discuss
the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments as part
of a review of their boundaries launched by Joe Biden on the Democrat
president's first day in office, according to the Interior Department.
Trump, a Republican, had cut the size of the two formerly massive
monuments by 2 million acres (8,000 square kilometers) combined at the
request of Utah's Republican lawmakers, removing protections that had
hindered ranching, drilling, mining, and other development in an area
twice the size of the state of Rhode Island.
Several tribes in the region consider the areas sacred and home to
thousands of important cultural and archeological sites. They will ask
Haaland to restore the protections cut by Trump and expand them further,
according to Pat Gonzales-Rogers, director of the Inter-Tribal
Coalition.
“We are consistent in what we are asking for. The original tribal
proposal and a path to making that permanent,” he said.
President Barack Obama, a Democrat, had created the 1.3 million acre
Bears Ears National Monument in 2016 under the U.S. Antiquities Act
after tribes originally proposed the site to cover 1.9 million acres.
Trump cut it to around 200,000 acres.
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The view from Comb Ridge is pictured in Utah’s Bears Ears area of
the Four Corners Region, Utah, U.S. December 18, 2016. Picture taken
December 18, 2016. REUTERS/Annie Knox/File Photo
Grand Staircase-Escalante, meanwhile, was created by former
President Bill Clinton, also a Democrat, in 1996 at 1.9 million
acres and was cut roughly in half by Trump.
Under the Antiquities Act, presidents have the authority to create
or alter national monuments unilaterally, which makes their
protections uncertain over time.
The Interior Department said administration officials have held
tribal consultations and spoken with Republican officials in the
state in advance.
Utah's Republican Governor Spencer Cox, Senator Mitt Romney and
Congressman John Curtis also met with tribal leaders from the Hopi,
Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute, Pueblo of Zuni, and Ute Indian to
try to reach a compromise ahead of Haaland's visit, said Romney
spokesperson Arielle Mueller.
“During the meeting, Senator Romney reiterated his desire to finding
a permanent legislative solution to the political football of Utah’s
national monuments," she said.
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
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