WASHINGTON (March 17, 2021) — Today, U.S. Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), and Representatives Chris Stewart (R-Utah), John Curtis (R-Utah), Burgess Owens (R-Utah), and Blake Moore (R-Utah), Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, Senate President Stuart Adams, House Speaker Brad Wilson and Attorney General Sean Reyes issued the following statement in response to Secretary Deb Haaland’s announcement of her upcoming visit to Utah to tour the Bears Ears and Grand-Staircase Escalante national monuments:
“As Utah leaders, we urged the administration to extend the 60-day timeline outlined in President Biden’s Executive Order calling for a review of our national monuments and invited Secretary Haaland to visit Utah to tour the monuments and engage state, local, and tribal leaders. We are encouraged that the administration has extended the deadline for review of Bears Ears and Grand-Staircase Escalante national monuments, and we welcome Secretary Haaland’s decision to travel to Utah, tour the monuments in question, and receive meaningful input from the local elected officials and residents. Her trip to Utah will allow her the opportunity to speak with the people who live and work on the lands, whose voices may otherwise go unheard, before making any recommendations to the President. We are also confident that this trip will successfully highlight the need for a permanent legislative solution for determining appropriate boundaries for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, with statutory protections to prevent abuses under the Antiquities Act for the State of Utah. We look forward to continuing our work on these issues with Secretary Haaland after her visit.”
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