Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch said Friday that President Trump told him he would approve Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s recommendation that he reduce the size of the contentious Bears Ears National Monument in Utah.
Zinke recommended that Trump shrink Bears Ears, a 1.35 million-acre monument that former President Barack Obama designated in December, as part of an extensive review of national monuments made by recent presidents.
“I was incredibly grateful the resident called this morning to let us know that he is approving Secretary Zinke’s recommendation on Bears Ears,” Hatch said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “We believe in the importance of protecting these sacred antiquities, but Secretary Zinke and the Trump administration rolled up their sleeves to dig in, talk to locals, talk to local tribes, and find a better way to do it. We’ll continue to work closely with them moving forward to ensure Utahns have a voice.”
Matt Whitlock, a spokesman for Hatch, said he listened as Trump revealed the news on speaker phone Friday.
Whitlock said Trump also committed to reducing the size of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah.
“I’m approving the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase recommendation for you, Orrin,” Whitlock said Trump told Hatch.
Trump and Zinke met Friday and discussed the monuments, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Friday. She also said Trump would visit Utah in early December.
Trump ordered the Interior Department to undertake a review of 27 national monuments shortly after his inauguration. The administration believes recent previous presidents have abused their authority under the 1906 Antiquities Act to unilaterally declare national monuments, by setting aside larger and larger swaths of public land.
Zinke issued a report to Trump in August, but it was not made public.
A memo leaked to the media revealed that Zinke recommended shrinking or changing the boundaries of six national monuments and proposed management changes to four others that could reopen areas to logging, cattle grazing and commercial fishing.
Bears Ears is perhaps the most contentious one Zinke pegged for a size reduction.
Obama created Bears Ears in December, just before he left office, protecting 1.35 million acres of mesas and canyons in Utah’s poorest county. It is an area in the southeastern part of the state that five Native American tribes consider sacred.
Zinke also proposed reducing the size of the 1.9 million-acre Grand Staircase, which President Bill Clinton declared in 1996.
Environmental and conservation groups as well as Native Americans have threatened to sue the Trump administration if it scales back the monuments, with the Natural Resources Defense Council saying Friday it will do so.
Supporters of the monuments note the Antiquities Act does not explicitly give authority to presidents to reduce the size of national monuments, although some have done so on a limited scale. The concept has not been tested in court.
