Since President Trump signed the executive order to review designations under the Antiquities Act, Utahns have wondered what it will mean for the west. This week, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke traveled to Utah and toured the Bear Ears National Monument and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Representative Rob Bishop is commending the Trump administration for doing things “the right way” and having the Interior Department perform the review and listen to local voices. The former Interior Department had traveled to Bear Ears but admitted they had not been involved in the designation process stating instead that the White House had acted alone and without local input. Bishop expressed his appreciation that Zinke and the Interior Department are taking a close look, emphasizing that the real problem lies in the Antiquities Act. Many areas of Utah, including the Uintah Basin, have been nervous about the economic effects a local designation of a monument could have at the stroke of the pen of the President.
