Fox News reports:
President Trump last month ordered a review of national monuments, an examination that will cover more than 100,000 acres that were designated by presidential decree over the past 21 years, and will assess whether past presidents put a stranglehold on millions of acres of federal land to keep it from being used by ranchers, farmers or for outdoor recreation.
The Department of the Interior will look at dozens of monuments, starting with the Bear Ears National Monument located in southeast Utah. It covers 1.35 million acres and was proclaimed a National Monument by President Barack Obama on December 28, 2016, just as he was leaving office.
Trump referred to it as a “massive federal land grab,” noting: “It’s time to end these abuses and return control to the people.”
“Presidents Clinton and Obama used a statute meant to protect archaeological finds to lock up tens of millions of acres of federal land to prevent mining, ranching, oil and gas development, logging and even recreational activity,” William Perry Pendley, president of the Mountains States Legal Foundation, a non-profit public interest group, told Fox News. “Now, in those areas, almost nothing can take place. You can go in and take pictures and nothing else.”
He called what President Trump has done “courageous” and says this decision “broke the mold.”
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, echoed President Trump, condemning the “unilateral decision” of President Obama, claiming it “undermines the local economy” and “rendered this land useless.”
CLICK HERE to read more
Source; Fox News
