So Sen. Mike Lee and other Utah politicians now complain about the proposal of the new administration to restore Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument to its pre-Trump extent, stating that the monument shouldn’t be used as a “political football.” Of course, these are the same fellows who praised Trump’s gutting of the monument in 2017 as the act of a hero and statesman!
Utah conservationists have contended in every forum, including in court, that Trump’s action shrinking the monument was illegal, and in every forum (until Inauguration Day) Sen. Lee and his cohorts have asserted that this action was unquestionably legal, right and proper.
Sen. Lee was wrong in 2017, and he’s wrong now. Next time he wants to rant about “political football,” logic demands he add a declaration about how Trump was wrong to reduce the monument in 2017, and that a prompt return to the “line of scrimmage” is the appropriate penalty. I’m not holding my breath.
Scott Berry, Salt Lake City
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