Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz called out the White House Twitter account Wednesday for tweeting a picture of Utah’s Arches National Park as it praised the designation of Bears Ears National Monument.
“Classic. @WhiteHouse pic is Arches not monuments. Couldn’t find a pic of Bears Ears & doesn’t even know where it is. #WorstPresidentEver,” Chaffetz tweeted.
Classic. @WhiteHouse pic is Arches not monuments. Couldn’t find a pic of Bears Ears & doesn’t even know where it is. #WorstPresidentEver https://t.co/odaZQoQP4B
— Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) December 29, 2016
President Obama declared a 1.35 million-acre national monument at Bears Ears on Wednesday, a desert wilderness with two buttes about 330 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. Chaffetz and other Utah lawmakers actively worked against the monument for years and were incensed by Obama’s declaration.
The tweet from the White House showed a desert landscape while quoting a statement from Obama about what the new monuments in Bears Ears and Gold Butte, a 300,000-acre monument in Nevada.
The goal of the monuments is to not only protect Native American artifacts and archeological sites but to preserve natural wonders as well.
Chaffetz and other Republicans argue the maneuver is a federal land grab that goes against the wishes of local residents.
