Joe.My.God. LGBT News
Roll Call reports:
Mining, logging and drilling in areas of southern Utah once part of two national monuments would be allowed under plans finalized Thursday by the Interior Department, igniting the anger of conservation groups and congressional Democrats. President Donald Trump drew the ire of tribes and environmentalists when he issued proclamations in December 2017 significantly reducing the size of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments.
The Trump administration has asserted that the decision to shrink these monuments was not based on energy development. However, the final federal records of decision and land management plans released by the Interior Department on Thursday pave the way for the land to be made available for future oil and gas leasing and mining claims, as well as timber harvesting, grazing and off-road vehicle travel.
After Trump shrunk Bears Ears national monument by 85 percent and Grand Staircase Escalante monument by executive order, he is now opening them to mining, oil, and gas development. https://t.co/vcCGv5XG7c
— Truthout (@truthout) February 7, 2020
?Nearly a million acres of land once protected as part of Bears Ears & Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments have now been officially ripped open by the Trump administration open for oil and gas drilling exploration. ? https://t.co/s0kM7OEp4l
— NRDC ? (@NRDC) February 7, 2020
The government’s plan to open Bears Ears to mining, drilling, and grazing just took a big step forward. https://t.co/50AeHmeFNa
— Backpacker Magazine (@BackpackerMag) February 7, 2020
The Government Is Moving to Shrink Bears Ears for Good https://t.co/PbDPvE7Tmo @outsidemagazine @hhansman #StandWithBearsEars
— Sierra Club (@SierraClub) February 7, 2020
This headlong spree to open up monument lands to extractive industries and development is illegitimate, and could only be done by turning a blind eye to the law and ignoring the Native American tribes for whom Bears Ears is sacred. #StandWithBearsEars https://t.co/7QPVEkLfjD
— Earthjustice (@Earthjustice) February 6, 2020