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Letter: Scenery and sunshine are Utah's real assets and should be protected

Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune Members of the conservation groups protest before the start of meeting of the Commission for the Stewardship of Public Lands at the Utah state Capitol Wed. April 20 where a resolution condeming the Antiquities Act was expected to pass. Also in contention as part of the Antiquities Act is a proposal before President Obama setting aside hundreds of thousands of acres in San Juan County for a Bear's Ears National Monument. Most in the audience were for the Bear's Ears National Monument.

No, Rep. Rob Bishop, Sen. Orrin Hatch, the rest of the Utah delegation and President Donald Trump, the Antiquities Act does not need revising. It works just as it was designed to.

On matters of public land owned by all Americans, “local voices” put short-term profits and local greed above the protection of assets that may be ruined by local interests. That is why a single voice elsewhere, in this case the U.S. president, who listens to many sides of a truly national issue (for all Americans), was wisely empowered to make a considered designation. Waiting for slow congressional action may be too late and things that need protection may already be stolen, trodden under ATVs or defaced by local voices.

Although they talk a good talk about their desire to protect public lands in their areas, the county councils, ranchers and pot collectors of southeastern Utah have already demonstrated that their unfettered access to lands and artifacts that belong to all Americans (not just Utahns) has not protected these precious treasures.

Mines, coal, oil and ranchers come and go. Scenery and sunshine remain and are the real, long-term, sustainable assets of this great state. They are what needs protection.

L. Cameron Mosher, Holladay