Will President Obama hand Utah conservationists an early Christmas present?
The San Juan Record newspaper in Monticello, Utah, reports there are widespread rumors Obama will designate a Bears Ears National Monument on December 23rd. Meanwhile, the Salt Lake Tribune reports Obama may be considering a monument smaller than the 1.9 million acres originally called for by an inter-tribal coalition. A legislative alternative pushed by Utah Congressman Rob Bishop sought to create two national conservation areas totaling about 1.3 million acres in the Bears Ears area. However, Congress ended its session without voting on Bishop’s bill. The executive director of the conservation group Friends of Cedar Mesa, Josh Ewing, tells KSJD that “the administration gave Congress every opportunity to act, they left town without so much as a vote, and the ball is squarely in the President's court.”
