Reportedly, the U.S. administration had passed a new plan for gas and oil drilling and coal mining on land stripped from Utah’s GSENM (Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument) by the President Trump’s government 2 Years ago. This plan was publicized by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) recently and will also clear more lands for recreation, cattle grazing and states that there might be “severe consequences” on land and resources in the monument. In 2017, Trump significantly shriveled the southern Utah monument, plus the close by Bears Ears national monument, which represents the largest abolition of civic lands protections in the U.S. history.
Reportedly, almost 800,000 Acres were eliminated from the GSENM. This move was exclusively criticized by paleontology and conservation groups, who have registered litigation challenging Trump’s authority to downscale the monument. They stated that the new BLM plan is lacking adequate protections for the land and restated their distress that the years spent for forming the plan were a total waste of taxpayer resources since the litigations remained unresolved. According to Steve Bloch—SUWA (Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance) Conservation Group’s Legal Director—said it was unforgivable to shrink the monument in half and downscale the prohibited lands that are “garden variety public lands.” The GSENM is one of the country’s iconic public lands and from the commencement of the Trump administration it was hell-bent on demolishing this place.
On a related note, recently, environmentalists group blow up about Utah national monument plan. In recent time, the U.S. government planned to allow entry of road vehicles to archaeologically sensitive land at a Utah’s national monument. The BLM’s proposal for the Bears Ears National Monument states that some of the historic sites that are mostly at risk would be off-limits, but the agency selected an option that closes about 42 square miles to off-road vehicles. The plan was received immediate disapproval from tribal and environmental organizations, who stated it will leave sensitive sites and lands vulnerable to damage.
