The federal government is reviewing National Monuments in Utah and throughout the U.S. to find new opportunities for mining and other natural resource extraction.
President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order instructing the U.S. Department of the Interior to investigate possibilities for increasing mining on public lands and mandating Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, chair of the newly formed National Energy Dominance Council, to seek industry recommendations for increasing domestic mineral production.
Per this executive order, 13.5 million acres of the U.S.’s National Monuments are now under review by the federal government, according to a recent news release from The Wilderness Society. These public lands include 6.7 million acres of critical wildlife habitat for 32 endangered species, 1.2 million acres of big-game wildlife migration corridors and 5,000 miles of streams, rivers and watersheds that provide about 2.4 million Americans with drinking water.
Those in favor of this evaluation see many benefits to the potential reduction of Utah’s National Monuments. In a time when so many products Americans use are sourced overseas, increasing domestic extraction of natural resources such as coal, critical minerals and timber is seen as a plausible path to greater quality control and national security.
In a recent speech to the National Congress of American Indians, Burgum said that these additional resources are needed if the United States is to pay down its $36 trillion debt.
“The biggest polluters in the world are the people from whom we buy our stuff,” Burgum said. “And when we do it here in the U.S., we do it cleaner, smarter, safer.”
In the view of Rep. Celeste Maloy, the U.S. would be better able to realize the full use potential of our natural resources if Congress, instead of presidents, were to have jurisdiction over public lands. She recently introduced two bills that, if passed, would eliminate a president’s ability to designate new National Monuments.
“We have a long track record now that shows that we can’t trust presidents to stick to the smallest parcel of land necessary to protect artifacts,” said Maloy. “Instead, what we’re getting is these huge, multi-million-acre national monuments. And in the cases of places like Utah, over the objection of all of the elected officials in the state.”
However, others see National Monuments as an essential resource for Utah’s economy besides natural resource extraction.
Dr. Jackie Grant, a former Southern Utah University professor of geosciences and current president of the nonprofit Grand Staircase Escalante Partners, said that the estimated value of ecosystem services is $3.3 billion per year provided by the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and $2.4 billion from Bears Ears National Monument.
“The state and private interests can earn money by extracting natural resources such as coal, critical minerals and timber, but the amount is not as much as the value of the ecosystem services that are lost in the process,” Grant said. “All the things happening in the background that support living organisms in the outdoors and the things we like about nature that we can’t necessarily harvest and sell, such as spiritual experiences, the feeling of awe and artistic appreciation and of course opportunities for recreation and tourism.”
Grant advised citizens who prefer Utah’s National Monuments to remain intact and protected to express their views to their legislators, volunteer with a local nonprofit benefiting public lands, donate to local nonprofit organizations such as Grand Staircase Escalante Partners, and support local businesses in the gateway communities around National Monuments.
“Americans treasure our national monuments and their remarkable and often irreplaceable resources,” said Steve Block, legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “Any decision to attack (and attempt to undo) National Monuments is unlawful and shortsighted and will be judged harshly by current and future generations.”
Author: Emily Walters
Photographer: Anna Mower
Editor: Chevy Blackburn
outdoors@suunews.net
