Marc Thomas, 435-210-0807
MOAB, UT. -- Today Donald Trump issued an Executive Order requiring the Department of the Interior to determine whether or not to shrink or otherwise modify existing national monuments across the country. The Order requires the Department of the Interior to review large landscape national monuments designated through use of the Antiquities Act since 1996, including Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. The Bears Ears National Monument in Utah will receive special attention.
Efforts to undermine national monuments by Utah’s Congressional delegation and state legislature, along with their broad anti-public lands stance, were at the center of a decision by the outdoor industry to move the lucrative Outdoor Retailer Show out of Utah to a state that shares the industry’s value of nature.
In response Marc Thomas, Utah Sierra Club Chapter Chair issued the following response:
“There is a strong desire by Utahns, and people across the country, to see our public lands protected for future generations. That includes places like the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments.
“Efforts to weaken or overturn protections for national monuments are part of a sustained attempt to replace the public lands legacy currently available for everyone to enjoy, with a lands legacy to benefit a narrow few.
“Those of us in Utah are already feeling the negative economic impact of this anti-public lands agenda. The Sierra Club joins in solidarity with the Tribal Nations in support of the Bears Ears National Monument, and with others across the country in support of national monuments that rightly recognize important cultural, historic and natural sites. We will continue to resist efforts to undermine protections for the places Americans hold dear.”
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