The fierce debate over public land in the West is expected to intensify following an executive order President Trump plans to sign Wednesday that could lead to the reduction or elimination of some national monuments. But he made clear that one region in particular will get special attention: the remote desert canyon lands of southeastern Utah, where Clinton created the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996 and Obama set aside the 1.3 million-acre Bears Ears National Monument in the final days of last year. Earlier this year, Patagonia, REI and other companies pressured the association to pull its annual trade show out of Salt Lake City in protest of Utah officials’ stance on protecting public lands. Olympus National Monument and is now part of Olympic National Park in Washington state. He suggested that any changes could be a matter of easing development restrictions to better reflect what he said should be a “multiple use” approach to public land management.

Source: Los Angeles Times April 26, 2017 03:33 UTC