Utah’s political leadership contends that the Grand Staircase Escalante and the Bears Ears national monuments proclamations are in violation of the 1906 Antiquities Act, because they exceed the minimum size as described in the act. Yet, the Antiquities Act has been used 150 times to establish or enlarge national monuments and it’s been used by 16 presidents. The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld presidential proclamations.
For decades the state of Utah has wasted millions of Utahns tax dollars, litigating against monument proclamations and their associated management policies. Instead of diverting these tax dollars towards increased and better management of these landscapes, the mantra is that these places are inadequately funded and lack proper oversight. Our leadership would prefer to throw fuel on the fire through litigation, rather than enhance the collective experience that we could have, by focusing on preservation of the lands in question.
It is disingenuous for our elected leaders to be critical of federal land management when the canary call has become the state song. Decisions regarding our quality of life are subservient to the interests of developers, rather than taking a full assessment of their associated impacts. The fate of the Great Salt Lake should highlight the incompetence of our elected officials as they pretend that the evaporation and diversion of water suddenly happened, despite the pleas of concerned scientists and citizens who urged caution, years ago. This lack of foresight and arrogance foretells the quagmire that awaits the Salt Lake valley’s air quality, once the Inland Port opens shop.
Do you trust our elected officials to be the custodians of our air, land and water, with a track record that’s as abysmal as this? Are they capable of making decisions that affect the management of our nation’s public lands? Their track record says otherwise.
Alex Steckel, Escalante
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/Y5TDWA4
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