Posted on 12/29/2016 7:08:48 AM PST by VitacoreVision
“This arrogant act by a lame duck president will not stand,” tweeted Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) in reaction to President Barack Obama designating two national monuments Wednesday at sites in Nevada and in Lee’s home state of Utah.
Christy Goldfuss, managing director of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, stated that the action will not allow any new mining or oil and gas development within the monument boundaries.
The Bears Ears National Monument in Utah designation adds even more land to the control of the federal government, covering 1.35 million acres in the Four Corners region. While Lee and many other residents of the states affected by Obama’s latest executive order reacted angrily, conservationists were ecstatic.
The proposed monument is located in between existing national parks and the Navajo Indian Reservation. Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye called it an exciting day for members of his tribe. “We have always looked to Bears Ears as a place of refuge, as a place where we can gather herbs and medicinal plants, and a place of prayer and sacredness,” he said. “The rocks, the winds, the land — they are living, breathing things that deserve timely and lasting protection.”
Today, the federal government owns two-third of the land in Utah. In the case of Bears Ears, the federal government will “co-manage” the land not with the state of Utah, but rather with five tribes: the Hopi, the Navajo Nation, the Uintah-Ouray Utes, the Ute Mountain Ute, and the Pueblo of Zuni.
Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) called the action by Obama “an astonishing and egregious abuse of executive power," which indicated to him that “far-left special interest groups matter more to him than the people who have lived on and cared for Utah’s lands for generations.” Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) also expressed his disapproval of Obama's actions: "The midnight move is a slap in the face to the people of Utah, attempting to silence the voices of those who will bear the heavy burden it imposes. It does not have the support of the governor, a single member of the state’s congressional delegation, nor any local elected officials or state legislators who represent the area."
Such disrespect for the wishes of the population and its elected officials of the area affected is yet another indication of the low regard in which the Obama administration holds the principle of federalism. Utah's Attorney General Sean Reyes has promised to sue over the action.
In Nevada, the Gold Butte National Monument has been a site of controversy for more than 15 years. Environmentalists have worked feverishly to stop the expansion of Las Vegas in order to protect various indigenous species such as the desert tortoise. Local cattle rancher Cliven Bundy made national news when he refused to recognize the authority of the federal government over the land, eventually engaging in an armed standoff with officials of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 2014.
Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval and U.S. Senator Dean Heller, both Republicans, contend that it is Congress that should make land designations, not the president. But Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the retiring Democrat leader in the U.S. Senate, actually pushed for the designation for the remote area northeast of Lake Mead, claiming it's "a wonderful capstone to [my] career of fighting to protect Nevada’s pristine landscapes.”
Obama said his action will “protect some of our country’s most important cultural treasures, including abundant rock art, archaeological sites, and lands considered sacred by Native American tribes. Today’s actions will help protect this cultural legacy and will ensure that future generations are able to enjoy and appreciate these scenic and historic landscapes.”
He defended the legality of his designation of 1.35 million acres as now off-limits to new energy development and recreation by citing the 1906 Antiquities Act, a law passed during the Progressive Era in which Congress gave up power to the president to designate national monuments on his own, without approval from Congress. The Antiquities Act was passed at the urging of progressive Republican President Theodore Roosevelt, a strong believer not only in government taking over private land “to conserve it,” but also in increasing the power of the president. He argued that a president should be able to do anything that he is not forbidden to do under the Constitution, and is therefore generally regarded as the one most responsible for changing the office of president into what is now called “the Imperial Presidency.”
Interestingly, Homer Cummings, the U.S. attorney general for President Franklin Roosevelt, issued an opinion in 1938 that while presidents could remove land from private use under the 1906 law, they could not reverse such executive actions. Republicans in Congress, incensed at Obama’s repeated use of executive orders to circumvent the will of Congress, are threatening to change the law in January.
While Franklin Roosevelt used the law to limit use of land in the West the most during his 12 years in office, Obama has taken the most land: 554,590,000 acres. this latest action is the 29th time Obama has used the power to create national monuments.
Only William Howard Taft has reduced the amount of land taken by the federal government (only 500 acres). Only four presidents did not use the power at all — Warren Harding, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush. Gerald Ford added a mere 90 acres.
It appears that Obama is doing his best to take as many actions as he can to advance his progressive viewpoint in the little time he has left in office. For example, he has blocked additional mining outside of Yellowstone National Park, and has stopped new oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean. Donald Trump is slated to take the oath of office as the 45th president on January 20, 2017, and environmentalists have expressed deep concern that he will attempt to alter Obama’s land “protections.”
This is an opportunity for the Republicans, who now control both houses of Congress, and the White House to rein in both the excessive power of the Imperial Presidency, and the policy of the federal government controlling more and more land in the western states. Whether they will actually do so remains to be seen.
Department of Interior needs to be disbanded, with most federal lands returned to the states.
I’m looking for who will have the nerve to take on that sacred cow.
Actually, most BLM land needs to be privatized, auctioned to US citizens.
Note to President Begaye: You can’t pluck herbs from a national monument. I’m sure you will get special dispensation though.
I refer to him as a “Lame DICK”
More of Obama’s scorched earth policy, to leave chaos for Trump...excuse me, PRESIDENT TRUMP to deal with.
“Department of Interior needs to be disbanded, with most federal lands returned to the states.”
Returned to the states? When did they have it?
I seem to remember back during the Clinton presidency that a huge tract of Utah land was designated federal preserve to prohibit mining the very abundant high quality (BTU) anthracite coal. The site was so rich in this coal that it would devastate the China coal mining industry.
[“Department of Interior needs to be disbanded, with most federal lands returned to the states.]
That and the lands, waters, and seas ‘overseen’ by the U.N.
Defund them and they will go away..................
We will, in Utah, get this overturned...this is just Barky trying to be important again and people here know that, we don't like him, and never have or anything he stands for...
There are rumors that President Trump will appoint Mike Lee for the Supreme Court, I had a fit about it, but looking back over his record, I think I will support it if it's the truth...
Lee's brother Thomas is our Utah Supreme Court Judge and has always had the citizens of Utah at the fore front, so maybe little Lee will do the same for the Citizens of America if he is so appointed...
The Feddle Gov't did some serious "co-managing" with Indian tribes about 150 years or so ago. Wonder how it will turn out this time?
The land not given to the 12 Western States per the enabling agreements at Statehood, needs to be returned to those States forthwith. What remains could be returned to the States within whose borders the land resides such as Yellowstone to WY etc. In reality there is no Constitutional requirement for the BLM or the land it illegally manages. Same for Forest Service or Park Service. Let them be hired in limited numbers by the States if necessary or needful.
“Actually, most BLM land needs to be privatized, auctioned to US citizens.”
If you do that, only them as already has will get. The broke can’t bid.
Is there anything to be said for using this land disbursal to advantage them as ain’t got?
Actually, if it was me, I’d give it out by lottery. I agree with you. People who wind up with land they can’t use, or can’t afford to pay property tax on, can sell it. But at least, as you say, the broke aren’t excluded from the process. Most people are broke, really, most people live month to month.
It makes some sense for land presently leased by ranchers be made available to them first, but most lands are not under any lease of any kind. They could be given out by lottery.
Or maybe there is some other mechanism I haven’t thought of.
The point is, once the land is in private hands, it will be available for development, it will be taxable. And it will not be under federal control.
And I especially think it important that only citizens be allowed to participate. In fact, I’d make it law that this land could not be resold to anyone not a citizen, maybe not for a century, maybe not ever.
I have visited the Bears Ears area between Canyon Lands and the San Juan River river several times. The lands lie west and north of the river and include mostly red slick rock of fantastic beauty. I would assume the Mokee Dugway is included along with Mule point. The Mokee Dugway is a fantastic adventure, especially in the outside lane meeting a UPS van.
I think the area is mostly good for visiting, viewing, spiritual meditation. There might be some free range cattle but little else.
I think Bluff and Mexican Hat are across from the Reservation and might be at the margin of the area.
Enough with this agenda 21 crap. U.N. out of the U.S. and take your agenda with you.
“The point is, once the land is in private hands, it will be available for development, it will be taxable. And it will not be under federal control. And I especially think it important that only citizens be allowed to participate.”
Yes, I agree. I do think, though, that we need a constitutional amendment prohibiting forfeiture for nonpayment of taxes. Until we have that, only the government owns anything.
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