On April 26, 2017 President Trump signed an Executive Order on the Review of Designations Under the Antiquities Act.
This week Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke visited Utah to tour the Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Following a tour of the Bears Ears region with the Secretary, Rep. Rob Bishop (UT-01) offered the following statement:
“I thank Secretary Zinke for coming to Utah to finally listen to the local voices. The prior Administration may have visited Bears Ears but, contrary to recent comments, had no part in the establishing of the Monument. The former Department admitted they were not part of the process, and that the White House acted alone and without local input. This President has done it the right way by ordering the Interior Department to review the process and listen to the local voices.
“The Bears Ears Monument is only a symptom of something much greater. The real problem lies in the 111-year-old Antiquities Act. The Act must be modernized.
“I am happy to have had Secretary Zinke tour these lands and more importantly, to have heard from the local people. I look forward to his recommendation to the President regarding Utah’s Monuments, and all the Monuments he will review nationwide. I am confident the Secretary understands there must be legislative reform to the underlying problem, the Antiquities Act.”
