Secretary Zinke says Bears Ears “merits some degree of protection”
The Salt Lake Tribune reports Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommends shrinking the size of the 1.3 million acre Bear Ears National Monument in Utah. Zinke says the acreage designated by Presiden Obama hinders multiple uses of lands in Utah’s San Juan County, the monument’s location. Zinke also says the land designation doesn’t accord with the intent of the Antiquites Act. The federal act requires designations be confined to the smallest area possible for proper management of objects to be preserved. Local leadership applauds Zinke’s recommendation, but conservation groups and five Native American tribes that proposed the monument believe Zinke’s actions will do more harm than good for public lands. U.S. Bureau of Land Management photo
