Tuesday, November 2, 2021

President Biden Restores Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante

 It took nearly nine months, but President Biden restored the original boundaries of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments on October 8. Bears Ears now also includes 11,200 additional acres not part of the original proclamation but somewhat surprisingly added by Trump (I guess as sort of a "consolation prize") when he sliced its boundaries 85% in 2017.  Biden's proclamation was great, although I might have preferred the lawsuits against Trump's actions to be resolved (assuming the courts decided against Trump) so the same kind of thing couldn't happen with future presidents.  Of course there was always the possibility the courts could side with Trump, so perhaps it's better this way.  If any future president tries to do a similar hatchet job, we will just have to deal with it then.

You can read the Press Release from the U.S. Department of Interior HERE.