February 8, 2018 Utah’s Noel introduces bill creating review process for federal designations Utah’s ongoing national monuments controversies may help jump-start Representative Noel’s bill. The painful and divisive conflicts over Utah’s unpopular Grand Staircase-Escalante (Clinton 1996) and…
September 18, 2017 Controversial Utah monuments among the ten Zinke wants to modify Once the lawsuits have run their course, and fail, as I suspect, there will be an opportunity to use this review and whatever comes…
August 26, 2017 10 biggest takeaways from Secretary Zinke’s Monuments Review summary Submitted comments from monument proponents were largely based on the false narrative that lacking monument status opened up the areas in question to the…
August 24, 2017 Rural West oppressed by heavy-handed Antiquities Act politics The driving force of this trend can largely be attributed to ulterior motives. Instead of focusing on the protection of specific historic, cultural and…
July 14, 2017 Despite ranchers’ concerns, Zinke recommends no changes to Craters, Hanford monuments Craters of the Moon was first designated in 1924 and occupied 54,000 acres. In 2000, President Clinton expanded it more than ten-fold, to 700,000…
July 13, 2017 Native American management of antiquities provides alternative to monument land grabs Granting control of such sites to Native Americans would allow for protection of antiquities on federal land with much less political rancor and greater…
July 8, 2017 Bears Ears reduction NOT unprecedented, and not up to Congress The Antiquities Act — which says monuments should be limited to the smallest area compatible with the site or object being protected — does…
June 29, 2017 Public lands ‘Deep State’ forges ahead despite Zinke plan to reduce Bears Ears If there is a public lands deep state, it would be composed of holdover groups such as the Bears Ears Commission. With an agenda…
June 20, 2017 Undue Green Influence: This Utah enviro group works against local interests with public dollars Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners has taken a position opposite that of the majority of working citizens who live in Kane and Garfield counties, where the…
June 16, 2017 National monument status exposes Giant Sequoia to major fire danger The forest’s “monument” status has prevented the U.S. Forest Service from performing routine maintenance such as thinning trees and clearing out dead brush. The…
