This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
In a sort of referendum about how senators rate President Barack Obama's land-management policies, the Utah Senate passed Friday a resolution urging Congress to restrict the power of a president to create national monuments.
All the Senate Republicans supported SCR4 while all Democrats opposed it. The resolution passed 24-4, with one Democrat absent, and was sent to the House.
"I'm voting aye with the reservation that when the presidency changes, I can vote no," said Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan.
Sen. Steve Urquhart, R-St. George, sponsored the resolution saying the Antiquities Act, which allows presidents to declare national monuments, is being misconstrued.
He said it "was intended to set aside small areas to protect valuable sources, but it is being abused to set aside millions of acres." He added that is being done to take public lands out of multiple use "toward just straight conservation."
The resolution especially warned that creating new national monuments in Utah's San Rafael Swell and Cedar Mesa — which is sometimes discussed — would "undercut the integrity" of ongoing work to revise public lands use plans for those areas in Emery, Wayne and San Juan counties.
— Lee Davidson