{"id":1621166,"date":"2022-08-25T18:03:48","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T22:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1621166"},"modified":"2022-08-25T18:03:53","modified_gmt":"2022-08-25T22:03:53","slug":"utah-sues-biden-administration-over-aggressive-land-grab-at-two-national-monuments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utah-sues-biden-administration-over-aggressive-land-grab-at-two-national-monuments\/","title":{"rendered":"Utah Sues Biden Administration Over Aggressive Land Grab At Two National Monuments"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futah-sues-biden-administration-over-aggressive-land-grab-at-two-national-monuments%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1621166&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Utah and two of its rural counties filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration Wednesday over the White House\u2019s move to radically expand a pair of national monuments in the southern half of the state. <\/p>\n<p>Last fall, President Joe Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/10\/13\/why-joe-bidens-expansion-of-bears-ears-national-monument-is-an-aggressive-land-grab\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">unilaterally restored<\/a> the Obama-era boundaries for a pair of national monuments in southern Utah that were trimmed down by President Donald Trump in 2017 under recommendations from state leaders. Biden\u2019s reversal of Trump\u2019s decision restored Bears Ears National Monument to its former size of more than 1.3 million acres and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to more than 1.8 million acres. <\/p>\n<p>Wednesday\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.romney.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Garfield-Cty-v.-Biden.2.Complaint.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lawsuit<\/a>, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, argues Biden\u2019s order claiming millions of acres under federal jurisdiction violated guidelines in the law which allow presidents to protect sites considered historically, geographically, or culturally significant.<\/p>\n<p>The Monuments and Antiquities Act of 1906 was first used by President Theodore Roosevelt to preserve the Wyoming monument at Devil\u2019s Tower from looting and destruction. A key parameter in the law mandates that the land to go under protection be \u201cthe smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.\u201d The provision was intended to keep presidents from abusing the law for the sweeping creation of quasi-national parks in the absence of congressional approval.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConsistent with that plain text, the Act was originally understood to authorize the president to make \u2018small reservations\u2019 that would include \u2018only so much land as may be absolutely necessary for the preservation of those interesting relics of prehistoric times,&#8217;\u201d the lawsuit reads. \u201cThe Act does not authorize the president to declare entire landscapes as national monuments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To comply with the law\u2019s requirement to preserve the \u201csmallest area compatible,\u201d President Trump relinquished more than 2 million acres from the two monuments that were placed under protection by President Barack Obama. The 800,000 acres stripped from Grand Staircase still maintained federal protection as designated wilderness, allowing the land to be used for hunting and grazing. The area placed back under monumental status at Bears Ears is larger than neighboring Zion and Bryce Canyon national parks combined. All Indian relics pertinent to the two sites maintained federal protection under Trump.<\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.romney.senate.gov\/utah-challenges-unlawful-designation-of-national-monuments\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">joint statement<\/a> released upon the filing of the lawsuit, the state\u2019s congressional delegation, the governor\u2019s office, and statehouse leadership condemned Biden\u2019s reversal of Trump\u2019s decision as \u201cabusive federal overreach\u201d and complained the size of the monuments make them \u201cunmanageable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese public lands and sacred sites are a stewardship that none of us take lightly,\u201d state leaders wrote. \u201cThe archeological, paleontological, religious, recreational, and geologic values need to be harmonized and protected. Rather than guarding those resources, President Biden\u2019s unlawful designations place them all at greater risk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In March, North America\u2019s largest outdoor trade show, Outdoor Retailer, <a href=\"https:\/\/outdoorretailer.com\/news\/were-moving-back-to-salt-lake-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced<\/a> it would return its programming to Salt Lake City after a five-year stint in Denver to protest state leaders\u2019 move to trim the two monuments. The biannual trade show <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/morning-mix\/wp\/2017\/02\/17\/largest-outdoor-gear-show-abandons-salt-lake-city-after-20-years-to-protest-utah-republicans-conservation-stance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">historically<\/a> draws 50,000 visitors and $45 million in annual revenue. <\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Utah and two of its rural counties filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration Wednesday over the White House\u2019s move to radically expand a pair of national monuments in the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1621166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1621166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1621166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1621166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1621166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}