With the arrival of a new administration in the White House, Utah Republicans are looking to undo the Bears Ears monument designation made by President Barack Obama. Utah House Speaker and Republican Greg Hughes has unveiled a legislative resolution that urges President Donald Trump to rescind the Bears Ears National Monument in San Juan County. HCR11 seeks to undo the newly minted monument, which President Barack Obama created using the Antiquities Act shortly before leaving office. The monument, which covers 1.35 million acres in southeastern Utah, puts protections in place for archeological sites in the region. Many Utah GOP leaders, including the entire congressional delegation in Washington DC, opposed the creation of the monument. They say the designation was an example of federal overreach of public lands. Rep. Ken Ivory, a Republican from West Jordan and a strong proponent of state control of public lands, is one of the state legislature’s most vocal objectors to the monument.
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