美国国家公共电台 NPR Utah Representative Wants Bears Ears Gone And He Wants Trump To Do It

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Republicans want to eliminate one of the nation's newest national monuments. President Obama created the 1.3 million-acre Bears Ears National Monument in Utah just days before he left office. The land which is near the Four Corners region in Utah is considered sacred to Native American tribes. But as NPR's Kirk Siegler reports, the effort to undo 1 the monument is setting up a legal fight.

KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE 2: The main character in this story is a relatively 3 obscure federal law called the Antiquities 4 Act that dates back to President Teddy Roosevelt, who famously used it early and often. It was meant to protect ancient artifacts and ruins that at the time were being pilfered 5 from western lands. It also allows for a president to protect these sites and the lands around them as national monuments without going through Congress.

ROBERT BISHOP 6: Under the Antiquities Act, there is no ability of having any input 7.

SIEGLER: One of its biggest critics is Utah Republican Representative Rob Bishop, who chairs the powerful House Natural Resources Committee.

BISHOP: No one ever gets to have a say. You don't work out things in advance. It has to be a gotcha moment where the president unveils something unilaterally.

SIEGLER: Bishop wants the Trump 8 administration to also act by executive order and either shrink the Bears Ears Monument or nullify it altogether. Bears Ears connects a huge protected corridor that links several monuments that ultimately bring you to the Grand Canyon 9.

BISHOP: It is the wrong size. It does not take into account the various uses that the land can do.

SIEGLER: And that's the big rub for Bishop. A national monument designation generally means new oil and gas drilling or, say, cattle grazing is off limits. Only the existing leases that are grandfathered in can be developed.

Now, what Bishop is talking about doing, overturning a national monument of this size, that's never been done before. And the law here is murky 10, according to University of Colorado law professor Mark Squillace.

MARK SQUILLACE: And that's because the way that the Antiquities Act is structured, it essentially 11 authorizes 12 the president to proclaim but not to modify or revoke 13 national monuments.

SIEGLER: Under the Act, only Congress can revoke a national monument outright 14. But Squillace isn't sure the Utah congressional delegation 15 has the votes.

SQUILLACE: It turns out that the designation of national monuments is very popular with the public.

SIEGLER: It's not yet clear what the new administration's move will be on Bears Ears, if there's one at all. During his Senate confirmation 16 hearing, the president's nominee 17 for Interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, had this to say about using the Antiquities Act in the reverse.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RYAN ZINKE: Legally, it's untested. There is no statement that authorized 18 rescinding 19.

SIEGLER: Zinke did say the public has generally benefited from a lot of national monuments. Economic studies have shown rural towns around them often see increases in tourism and recreation business. Congressman 20 Rob Bishop isn't buying it in Utah.

BISHOP: In the name of saying we're doing something for everyone, you actually hurt people, especially those - especially those who live in that particular area.

SIEGLER: San Juan County, home to Bears Ears, is the poorest county in the state. And Bishop wants more local control of federal public land. An analysis by the Center of Responsive Politics, however, found that he gets more campaign donations from outside his home state than any other lawmaker in the House, much of that coming from energy and agribusiness.

And one thing is clear - the fight over the future of the Bears Ears National Monument extends far beyond Utah.

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTORS: (Chanting) Public lands in public hands.

SIEGLER: At the Utah state capitol recently, Cynthia Wilson of the Navajo Nation protested the state legislature's passage of a resolution condemning 21 Bears Ears.

CYNTHIA WILSON: As indigenous 22 people, this is nothing new to us. We have always been attacked on over our ancestral lands. And we're going to keep defending this monument. And we are resilient.

SIEGLER: Many tribes are pledging to mobilize from around the country to Utah to fight for the protection of Bears Ears if needed. Kirk Siegler, NPR News.