Colorado’s top Democrats were swift to blast President Donald Trump’s decision Monday two national monuments in neighboring Utah, calling it a move that puts public lands at risk.
“Preserving and expanding our national monuments is keeping in the best traditions of our country,” Gov. John Hickenlooper said in a statement. “In Colorado, we value our lands because they are part of our fabric and they strengthen local economies. We hope our leaders can find a way to let monuments remain and return their focus to more pressing issues facing our country.”
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, called Trump’s move a raid of “public lands for private gain,” while Congressman Ed Perlmutter, an Arvada Democrat, said .
“He has already come after our national parks. Now itap #BearsEars and #GrandStaircaseEscalante. Where will it end?” DeGette tweeted.
Trump announced in Salt Lake City that he would pare back the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments from, respectively, more than 1.3 million-acres to 201,876 acres andfrom nearly 1.9 million acresto 1,003,863 acres.
The pair were among 27 monuments that Trump ordered Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review this year. Colorado’s outside Cortez was also.
Republicans have called the scope of the Bears Ears and the Grand Staircase Escalante monuments, designated by Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, respectively, an example of federal overreach, seeking instead for them to be under local control.
“Some people think that the natural resources of Utah should be controlled by a small handful of very distant bureaucrats located in Washington,” Trump said in announcing his decision. “And guess what? They’re wrong.”
The debate to the coveted Outdoor Retailer summer and winter trade shows’ from Salt Lake to Denver.
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, a Colorado Democrat, said Trump’s decision was “in lock-step with a small number of Washington special interests” and noting that president disregarded the wishes of area tribes.
With announcement today to diminish & , he explicitly:
1. Disregarded wishes of tribes
2. Ignored overwhelming public comments from Western leaders
3. Dismissed guidance regarding lands— Michael Bennet (@SenatorBennet)
“Today’s announcement … disregards the wishes of a tribal coalition and ignores the input of Western leaders and businesses to initiate the single largest removal of protection for public lands in our nation’s history,” Bennet said in a written statement.
The Navajo Nation, whose territory makes up parts of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, released a statement Monday saying it had no choice but to take legal action against the Trump administration.
“TheNavajoNationhas made repeated requests to meet with President Trump on this issue. The Bears Ears Monument is of critical importance, not only to theNavajoNationbut to many tribes in the region,” said in a written statement. “The decision to reduce the size of the monument is being made with no tribal consultation. TheNavajoNationwill defend Bears Ears. The reduction in the size of the Monument leaves us no choice but to litigate this decision.”
Navajo Vice PresidentJonathan Nez called it “a sad day for indigenous people and for America.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.