The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Public Lands Council criticized the Biden administration’s unilateral designations on national monuments in Utah. The administration put sweeping federal designations on millions of acres surrounding the Bears Ears National Monument and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
After months of rhetoric on their intent to work collaboratively with state governments and local communities, the administration opted to make these designations rather than create a conservation strategy that would incorporate local stakeholder input and avoid the “management whiplash” of a unilateral federal designation. By ignoring efforts to reach a permanent solution, the administration prolonged the back-and-forth political football that occurs with national monument boundaries during each change of administration. “Conservation is more than signing a piece of paper,” says PLC Executive Director Kaitlynn Glover.
“It requires long-term planning, active management, the help and investment of knowledgeable land users, local residents, and state leaders who perform the day-to-day work of maintaining landscapes and ecosystems.” She also says these designations only win conservation points “on paper.” The reality is much different. “They will lead to the kind of conservation strategy that we know from experience does not support healthy ecosystems long-term,” she adds.
