INTERIOR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump is expected to announce a historic reduction to Bears Ears National Monument on Monday [12-4-17], a sprawling region of red rock canyons in Utah that has been at the center of a national fight over how much land a president can legally set aside for protection.
The Trump administration plans to announce that he will shrink the monument by between 77 and 92 percent, according to statements from the office of Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah. It would be the largest reduction of a national monument to date, and it comes as the administration pushes for fewer restrictions and more development on public lands.
The move is particularly significant because it is expected to trigger a legal battle that could alter the course of American land conservation, possibly opening millions of protected public acres to oil and gas extraction, mining, logging and other commercial activities.”
-Julie Turkewitz, “President Trump Expected to Shrink Bears Ears by as Much as 90 Percent,” The New York Times online, Dec. 4, 2017