Quote:
Originally Posted by Wasatch Wasteland
I think anyone who has a half baked opinion on the matter should actually visit these places. I grew up in the area, and Grand Staircase is still one of my favorite stomping grounds. I fundamentally believe that most people’s opinons would be changed, or at least swayed, if they took the time to experience the place. Unfortunately 99% of the people in this country who have an opinion on the matter have never even been.
Grand Staircase really got the shaft in my opinion. A lot of the most beautiful parts got axed, but places that have no aesthetic, geological, or archealogical significance are still protected. Same with Bears Ears.
The proposed “Escalante Canyons” national monument would be a great candidate for National Park Status in my opinion.
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This is why I was offended by the previous accusations made that I for some reason "haven't been there". I have spent countless weeks camping in GSE and Bears Ears both before and after their designations as national monuments. These protected areas are some of the most beautiful in what I consider to be the most naturally stunning area of North America. And they are currently well-protected, pristine, and peaceful. We should take pride in where we live and not make the mistakes of past generations. We are stuck dealing with mining tailings in countless areas across the West. Why are we going to create more? Why are we going to do the exact same thing we've been doing to our public lands for decades? I don't want
this to be one of the environmental mistakes that Trump and his sycophants are remembered for so gladly pulling off.
I'm going to point out another aspect many people seem to conveniently forget... Bears Ears is sacred to Native tribes of Southeastern Utah. They have lived here for 12,000 years. We are simply foreign visitors to what is rightly Native land, and these decisions should not be ours to make. Shrinking Bears Ears is an attack on Native American culture and values, and supporting the shrinking is in essence the same thing. This is coming from the same president who called Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas" while standing in front of a portrait of Andrew Jackson.
What a joke. These lands should be completely free from human activity beyond native tribes who already use it. Yet we are continuing to build roads, build infrastructure, and now apparently get access to coal seams in the middle of GSE National Monument.
Where else on Earth can you see landscapes like this? This archaeology is unique to Utah, and it is uniquely Utahn. Millions of people come here to see this stuff. Tourism is infinitely less harmful and more profitable than coal and other general mining, but Trump has friends in Big Coal that fund these escapades of archeological destruction.