The state of Utah and two Republican-leaning rural counties filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration on Wednesday over the president's decision to restore two national monuments.
The lawsuit over Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, the two southeastern Utah monuments, alleges that President Joe Biden's actions violate a century-old law that allows presidents to protect sites considered historically, geographically or culturally important.
The management of public lands is one of the most prominent battles in the United States. Federal land management decisions often become politically charged throughout the rural West, where Republican-leaning ranching communities skeptical of federal overreach are often pitted against conservationists and tribes who argue robust federal protections are needed as a bulwark against development.
The debate has been going on for a long time with the new lawsuit. The arguments revisit familiar legal and political debates and touch on points Republicans have for years repeated in court and in campaign speeches about federal land grabs.
Since October 2021, when Biden restored the lands, there have been challenges from Utah and two right-leaning rural counties. Bears Ears was called a place of reverence and a sacred homeland by Biden.
The monuments are nearly the size of Connecticut and contain canyons with pink ribbons of limestone, dramatic red rock mesas and buttes, and Native American artifacts.
Gov. Spencer Cox and Utah's congressional delegation accused the federal government of not properly managing the land and blamed the expanded monuments for "unmanageable" visitor levels.
"We now challenge this repeated, abusive federal overreach to ensure that our public lands are adequately protected and that smart stewardship remains with the people closest to the land."
The administration had no comment, according to the press secretary.
After Trump made his move to shrink the monuments, the fight over these lands went back to the courtroom. The lawsuits were filed by the outdoor company and a group of tribes to restore the monuments.
Matthew Campbell is the deputy director of the Native American Rights Fund. They will have to keep fighting.
The part of southeastern Utah where the two monuments are located has been at the center of some of the country's most heated land management debates.
Bears Ears, which was designated a National Monument by President Barack Obama, is unique because land management decisions are made by a commission of federal agency officials and representatives from five tribes. Five years after it was scrapped, the commission was reestablished in June of this year.
Parts of the monuments were open for development. When Trump downsized the monuments, low demand and high production costs led to minimal interest from energy companies in the lands that were not protected.
The 1906 Antiquities Act was supposed to protect specific historical or archaeological sites, but the Biden administration misinterpreted it. The act says that the smallest area compatible with preservation goals should be designated as a designation.
The Bears Ears designation is the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects of historic and scientific interest, according to Biden.
That's right.
Aamer Madhani is a writer for the AP.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
