President Joe Biden has restored environmental protections on Friday that are major national monuments in Utah and New England. In fact, they have been stripped by The Trump administration.
President Joe Biden: National Moments Deserve Protection
President Joe Biden said, speaking at an outdoor ceremony, that protecting Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts national monuments should, in fact, not become an “a pendulum that does swing back and forth depending on who is in public office.”
Bridges: To Past and Future
“Moreover, these protections are bringing a bridge to our past, plus also but they also build a bridge to a safer, more sustainable future,” he continued.
President Donald Trump, while in office, has gutted or lifted restrictions on all three national monuments. He had dramatically reduced their size and allowing development, mining, ranching, drilling, and fishing to take place on the lands.
President Joe Biden: Restoring Protections
Speaking to Utah Senators Mike Romney and Mike Lee, Biden has said that “as a matter of curtsey,” about his decision. Romney and Lee are both Republicans. In fact, Biden did say they did not argue with restoring the protections. However, he did add that they were “gracious and polite about it.”
The first indigenous Cabinet secretary, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, did speak emotionally about the importance of the lands to tribal nations.
“Moreover, today’s announcement is not just about the national monuments. Thus it is about the administration that is centering the voices of indigenous people. Plus affirming the shared stewardship of this landscape with tribal nations,” Haaland said. “If you put everything together, it will tell more of a complete story of America.”
Trump and the Directive
Trump has signed a directive in late 2017. It has sharply reduced Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Southern Utah by 1.23 this was out of a total of 3.25 million acres. Most of which had been protected by monument status.
