Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Submit your public comment before March 19: NO mining in Bears Ears and Grand Staircase national monuments


The Wilderness Society is challenging President Trump's rollback of protections for Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in court, and the law is on our side.

But in the meantime, the Trump administration is shamelessly moving forward with the land planning process that will open these priceless lands to uranium and coal mining, reckless off-road vehicle use and other impacts.

The Interior Department is currently accepting public comments on these new land planning efforts. 

Please tell them it is premature and irresponsible to open our monuments to industry while Trump’s actions are being challenged.

If they insist on moving forward with new land use plans for any portion of Bears Ears or Grand Staircase-Escalante, they must prioritize the protection of cultural and ecological resources.

Help us hold the line while we fight in court--submit a public comment in defense of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante.

- The Wilderness Society 

Submit a public comment in defense of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante to Assoc. Monument Manager Matt Betenson and Bureau of Land Management District Manager Lance Porter.

Sign the public comment by clicking here. (Please, personalize it for even more impact.) 

The comment reads:

President Trump's Proclamation 9681 and Proclamation 9682 are each the subject of ongoing legal challenges, and it is therefore premature and irresponsible for the Bureau of Land Management to move forward with the planning efforts for the tracts affected by those decisions. 

If the agency moves forward, any management plans created for the Indian Creek, Shash Jaa, Grand Staircase, Kaiparowits and Escalante Canyons units should reflect the intent of the original proclamations establishing the Bears Ears (Proclamation 9558) and Grand Staircase-Escalante (Proclamation 6920) national monuments. The plans should prioritize the protection of cultural and ecological resources in all the monument lands.  

Additionally, for both Bear Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, new public hearings should be scheduled in Salt Lake City, UT, Flagstaff, AZ, Denver, CO, Washington D.C. and Albuquerque, NM, in addition to the "gateway communities" of each monument.  

Thank you. 

No comments:

Post a Comment