skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina s congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Myorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Public Comments Sought on Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante

play audio
Play

Friday, August 17, 2018   

SALT LAKE CITY – The conflict surrounding Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments continues this week.

President Donald Trump drastically downsized the two southern Utah monuments through an executive order last December. This week, the Bureau of Land Management released draft management plans for the areas, outlining options for mining, drilling and other uses for the land.

But conservation groups say the BLM shouldn't be moving forward with any plans until several lawsuits about shrinking the monuments have played out in court, according to Chris Saeger, executive director with the Western Values Project.

"Let's let the rule of law do its job,” says Saeger. “Let's let the authorities and the court system make a fair and honest determination of what both sides are saying here. And then, we can have a discussion about whether or not we keep the protections."

Critics of shrinking the monuments insist they need federal protection as home to important archaeological sites, Native American sacred sites and unique wilderness. But the areas are also known to be rich in mineral and oil deposits.

Today, the BLM opens a 90-day public comment period on the draft management plans.

President Trump's order to reduce the monuments' size was the largest reduction of public land in U.S. history. It cut the size of Bears Ears about 85 percent, and Grand Staircase-Escalante by about half.

The Antiquities Act gives presidents the authority to create national monuments, but Saeger says it's disputed whether presidents have the ability to remove federal land protections.

"What the president did was took an unprecedented, and what many legal experts believe to be an unlawful, action in shrinking these national monuments," says Saeger.

The Antiquities Act says protected lands should be limited to the "smallest compatible" area. Some Utah politicians have argued that the two monuments' boundaries were larger than necessary when they were established under previous presidents.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021