Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, says he received a surprise phone call from President Donald Trump Friday about shrinking the Bears Ears National Monument. In a news release, Hatch says the president told him: “I’m approving the Bears Ears recommendation for you, Orrin.”
How much land will lose national monument status is still unknown, but some news outlets have been saying it could be a fraction of Bears Ears’ original size, which is 1.35-million acres.
“It's really gratifying to have the president of the United States paying attention to our concerns out here,” says Phil Lyman, a San Juan County Commissioner.
Gov. Gary Herbert (R) said in a statement that Trump is following the state’s recommendations on Bears Ears and the Grand Staircase. He also said local voices, Native Americans and Congress are important going forward.
But environmental groups call Trump’s promised move illegal, and vow to fight it.
“We’ll be working to send a strong signal to the president that we want to defend our national monuments,” says Ashley Soltysiak, who leads the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club, “that we want to see our public lands protections expanded, we want to see better funding for our national parks.”
Trump is planning to visit Utah in December. He might wait until then to announce the details of his decision, or he could do it earlier, said White House spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
