PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, August 24, 2017
CONTACT: Madison Hayes | Alliance for a Better Utah
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SEC. ZINKE CALLS FOR MONUMENT REDUCTIONS
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Salt Lake City, UT – After nearly three months of anticipation, Secretary of the Department of the Interior Ryan Zinke submitted his report to President Trump reviewing the designation and size of 27 national monuments, including the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah. Zinke recommended that all the monuments he reviewed retain that protective status. However, the details of his recommendation, particularly regarding boundary size of monuments, it is not known.
Better Utah’s Content Manager, Madison Hayes, commented, “The glimmer of hope in this situation is Zinke did not call for the elimination of any monuments in Utah as many feared, and he assured the public that these lands will remain under federal protection. That said, Zinke’s push to reduce or change boundaries of some monuments under review does not bode well for Bears Ears or Grand Staircase. We anxiously await the full details of Zinke’s report.
“Needless to say, the entire review process has been unprecedented. We remain committed to pushing back on any effort to change the existing boundaries of monuments in Utah, given the abundance of support for both monuments – as seen through various efforts of the business community in Grand Staircase and the work of the Utah Dine Bikeyah and Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition advocating for Bears Ears. Any significant changes to these monument designations is an invitation to litigation, which the Alliance for a Better Utah will wholeheartedly support.”
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About the Alliance for a Better Utah:
Alliance for a Better Utah is a good government advocacy and watchdog organization based in Salt Lake City. The organization works to improve the lives of all Utahns by ensuring balance, transparency, and accountability in Utah politics, policy, and government. More information at www.betterutah.org.