Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has completed the review of national monuments mandated by President Trump. He has not released his recommendations. The New York Times is reporting that those recommendations include reducing the size of 4 national monuments, including Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah. Reports are that Secretary Zinke may recommend a drastic reduction in size for Bears Ears.
His interim recommendations on Bears Ears included reducing the size of the monument and seeking congressional approval authorizing tribal co-management and designation of areas that fall outside the revised monument as national conservation or recreation areas.
Supporters of the existing monuments say that public lands create jobs and protect America's cultural and historic legacy. Opponents say that monuments are too big and are impairing the area’s economy.
Today's guests include:
Writer, educator, photographer and conservationist Stephen Trimble
John Ruple, Associate Research Professor at the Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources and the Environment at the University of Utah
Matthew Campbell, Staff Attorney at the Native American Rights Fund
Ethel Branch, Attorney General of the Navajo Nation