Herbert: Multiple monuments at Grand Staircase a possibility

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke made clear to Utah's governor that if ever there were a clearly abusive use of the Antiquities Act, it was the 1996 designation of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Gov. Gary Herbert said Thursday he does not know specifically what fate may await the monument in southern Utah, but it could be reduced to two or possibly three smaller monuments. "You won't find 1.9 million acres in the Grand Staircase-Escalante that need protection. It doesn't mean that there aren't Bureau of Land Management lands and BLM doesn't manage, but to have the enhanced protection of the monument, I think, was overreach." Herbert, who spoke on the monument issue during his monthly KUED media event, said Zinke shares Utah's concerns over the size of the monument. "(Zinke) indicated to me, as has been said by a number of people, and I am one of them, if there were ever an example of the abuse of the Antiquities Act and overreach, it was the Grand Staircase." "I think there is the possibility of carving it up into smaller monuments, two or three, that actually protect the areas that need protection," Herbert said. "So we will have to see what the president does." Zinke has already indicated the 1.35 million-acre Bears Ears National Monument in San Juan County needs to be reduced, a recommendation that came shortly after his visit to both monument regions in May. "I think the biggest thing for a lot of us is … to give the Native Americans more say in the management of the lands they consider sacred," Herbert said. "As I meet with a number of Native Americans, they say they would like that."...more