This is your daily news rundown for Thursday, Sept. 3. In this edition:
- Environmental groups are suing over the Trump administration shrinking national monuments
- Residents are worried about water and transparency with a proposed data center in Tooele Valley
- Fire restrictions are dropping at Arches and Canyonlands National Parks
Environmental groups are suing over shrinking national monuments — again
Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against President Trump’s executive order to shrink Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments.
The Trump administration claims previous presidents abused the Antiquities Act to lock up millions of acres of land.
Environmental groups like the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance disagree. They claim the act lets presidents establish and expand national monuments, but not to shrink or undo them.
It’s a reactivation of a lawsuit filed in 2017, when Trump first shrank the two Utah monuments.
Other plaintiffs include the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, and a nonprofit led by members of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. They are represented by the environmental law firm Earthjustice.
Tooele Valley residents don’t want a data center near Great Salt Lake
Tooele Valley residents spoke out on Thursday against a proposed data center that would be adjacent to Great Salt Lake.
The Utah Inland Port Authority supports the almost 600-acre project, which would be near the lake’s wetlands and also include a truck stop.
At the authority’s board meeting Thursday morning, a community group presented a letter with over a thousand signatures from concerned residents.
Those concerns included the proximity to Great Salt Lake, strains on local groundwater, and the development process moving too quickly for transparency or public input.
They don’t want the state agency to fund the project until concerns are addressed, or to have any more private coordination with the developer.
Abby Osborne, board chair for the Utah Inland Port Authority, thanked the group for reading out the letter but said it would go through a different process that does not include the board.
Fire restrictions are dropping at some southeastern Utah parks
Fire restrictions are dropping early Friday at several parks in southeastern Utah.
The restrictions were first implemented in late June amid a hot, dry, and dangerous fire season.
Campfires and charcoal cooking will be allowed again at developed recreation sites and picnic areas starting Friday at 12:01 a.m.
That applies for Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Hovenweep National Monuments, and Natural Bridges National Monument.
However, drought conditions didn’t end with restrictions, so fire safety is still important when visiting the parks. Guidelines include fully extinguishing campfires and keeping away flammable vegetation.
Fireworks and other pyrotechnic devices are also always banned on federal public lands.
