Back in April, President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order that, among other things, ordered his Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke to review and suggest changes to the status of the 27 national monuments created since 1996.
The review could potentially open up large portions of the national monuments like Bears Ears in Utah, the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, also in Utah, Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument in Arizona, Giant Sequoia National Monument in California, and many others to oil and gas and other types of destructive development.
Zinke has already released his recommendations for Bears Ears National Monument, which has become the focal point of the debate on national monuments in recent months, and his proposed plan would shrink the monument. He has not yet specified how much he would like to see the boundaries of Bears Ears reduced, however, calling that decision premature at this point.
To date, there have been over 1.2 million public comments submitted to the Department of the Interior regarding the national monument review, but the deadline for the comment period is almost here.
If you’re still hoping to make your voice heard on this important public lands issue, leave a comment at this link before midnight tonight.
