What will Trump’s reelection mean for Bears Ears, other Utah public lands?
Nov 10, 2024, 7:00 AM | Updated: 9:37 am
FILE: Anasazi ruins that are over 700 years old are picture in Mule Canyon within Bears Ears National Monument on April 9. 2021. (Kristen Murphy, Deseret News)
(Kristen Murphy, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — Bears Ears has often been referred to as a “political football” since former President Barack Obama established the national monument in southeast Utah toward the end of his presidency.
That’s because its borders have changed twice since then through presidential proclamations, shifting back and forth between Democratic and Republican power. President Donald Trump shrank the monument’s size by 85% — and also cut into the size of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument — with a proclamation in 2017, only to have President Joe Biden reverse that decision in 2021.
Now that the presidency is shifting back to Trump in 2025, the football will likely be kicked again.
Utah Rep. John Curtis, now headed into the Senate next year, said Wednesday that he’d be “surprised” if Trump doesn’t undo Biden’s decision, which undid Trump’s decision nearly seven years ago. However, he adds Congress may also get involved to potentially settle the issue once and for all.
“Everybody’s tired of the back and forth on both sides of this,” he said in a meeting with KSL and Deseret News reporters on Wednesday.
A new approach to Bears Ears?
Federal land managers are in the middle of developing long-term plans for Bears Ears National Monument, with its existing size reestablished three years ago. Bureau of Land Management officials released an environmental impact statement for the project last month, which features ways to protect the monument’s “cultural and natural resources,” while also “providing continued opportunities for outdoor recreation such as hiking, camping and hunting.”
It’s unclear what’s next for the plan, especially with likely changes in leadership after Trump is sworn back into office on Jan. 20, 2025.
Republicans will also regain control of the Senate next year, though the Associated Press projects that they won’t make enough gains to clear the 60-seat advantage and avoid filibusters. The party could also remain in power in the House of Representatives, which would give it an upper hand on policymaking over the next two years.
Read the rest of the story at ksl.com.
Related: Feds release final plan for Bears Ears National Monument
