Donald Trump’s 2017 decision to shrink the Bears Ears National Monument designated by President Barack Obama in the last days of his presidency has sparked a number of lawsuits such as this one and this one that are working their way through the courts. Most lawyers knowledgeable about the 113-year-old statute authorizing presidents to set aside public lands for national monuments think Trump will ultimately lose what they consider an illegal cutback of 2 million designated acres at Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, both in Utah.
But the prospect that Trump’s giveaway to the oil and gas industry will be overturned in court isn’t stopping lawmakers from pushing legislation to provide a fix that’s not dependent on a court ruling.
http://redgreenandblue.org/2019/01/31/bill-restore-bears-ears-national-monument-introduced-congress/
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