Rep. Mike Noel has introduced his own resolution that would ask Congress to cut down the size of the current Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
Noel, R-Kanab, and other GOP House leaders told their caucus this week that a resolution would be coming asking President Donald Trump to rescind the Bears Ears National Monument in San Juan County.
That resolution was introduced Thursday under House Speaker Greg Hughes’ name, HCR11.
Noel said at that time and he hoped leaders would agree to include the staircase in that request.
That didn’t happen, so HCR12 is Noel’s back-up plan to at least reduce the size of the staircase.
That resolution does not ask Trump to take action on the staircase, which was created in 1996 by then-Democratic President Bill Clinton, but only for Congress to act.
Noel was working for the BLM at the time, and his main job was writing up guidelines and studies on allowing a coal mining operation on the main plateau of the staircase.
Noel retired out of the bureau after 20 years and is now in consideration by the Trump administration to be named its director.
He says that 14 times over the years the president and Congress have cut down the size of national monuments.
And Noel would like the staircase monument rescinded in its entirety – although that may be harder to do after 20 years.
