The attacks on Utah’s iconic monuments just keep coming. This summer, the Trump administration used an executive order to reduce Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante by 90% while also opening them up for mining. If that wasn’t detrimental enough, Sen. Mike Lee is now working to overthrow the Monument Management Plan, which was developed together, through a unique collaborative effort by local citizens, Native American leaders, special interest groups, and state and local representatives.
Sen. Lee will soon reach the last step to overturn, which could move through Congress very quickly. If passed, it would then prevent any future plans from securing the kind of agreed-upon protections that are essential for the natural and cultural resources of these areas.
As the former deputy superintendent of the Southeast Utah Group, including Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, I know firsthand how much these lands mean to each and every one of us. The polling shows the same: 75% of Utahns believe in protecting public lands rather than giving them up for drilling and mining. And yet, that is exactly what the administration intends, as 16 new mining claims were filed for Bears Ears the day the process opened.
These attacks on our iconic Utah national monuments are attacks on all who visit or call Utah home. From the roaming bighorn sheep and desert tortoises, to the Native Americans who have stewarded these lands for time immemorial, to local communities that rely on tourism, Sen. Lee is once again pushing political agendas to the detriment of the values that all of us in Utah hold dear.
There is no time to waste. We need all members of Congress from Utah — and across the country — to stand against the few who want to exploit our public lands, and unite to reject Sen. Lee’s dangerous bill.
Philip Brueck, Saratoga Springs