www.washingtonpost.com/national/energy-environment/trump-takes-rare-step-to-reduce-2-national-monuments-in-utah/2017/12/04/b7a9631a-d959-11e7-a241-0848315642d0_story.html?utm_term=.1dca0f97eeb2Many environmental and conservation groups, along with a consortium of tribal groups, have begun filing lawsuits against Trump's decision to scale back national monuments in Utah. It has been decided that Bears Ears National Monument will be reduced by 85% while Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument will be reduced by nearly half. To many Republicans and supporters, this is a reverse on protections that they felt were federal overreach. Trump believes that this will give voice back to the citizens of Utah, that public lands are for public use, etc. Oh, but this could have nothing to do with the potential for logging or the plateau "that is home to one of the United States largest coal reserves that could be open for mining". The concerns from the Native Americans and Environmentalists continue to grow. To some, this is sacred land that is often used to perform ceremonies and collect herbs for rituals. This is a place home to ancient cliff dwellings and about 100,000 archaeological sites. The plateau that has the potential for mining is also covered with a large number of dinosaur fossils that could now be jeopardy.
This is quite possibly the largest elimination of protected land in American history. Also, there has never been a president who has eliminated a monument, only those who have redrawn lines or reduced them slightly. What Trump is doing is clearly abnormal and definitely not a good thing. Not only would it negatively impact the fight against fossil fuels, but it would be another message to the Native Americans that we are not accepting of their culture and their traditions. Ryan Zinke has suggested other monuments to the president for intense reduction and now is the time to put a stop to this nonsense before it continues.
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