Will This be Known as Jason Chaffetz Foley?

The Plan to Stop More National Monument Declarations of Utah...and What is Wrong With It.

Congressmen Jason Chaffetz and Rob Bishop released a proposal today in which they hope with stop another massive national monument declaration.

1.  Dinosaur National Monument, will become Dinosaur National Park.
2.  The Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry to become Jurassic National Monument.
3.  Counties in Eastern Utah (Daggett, Uinta, Duchesne, Carbon, Emery, Grand and San Juan) will be exempt from the Antiquities Act and President Obama and future presidents will not be able to use the act to declare new national monuments there.  It is not unprecedented.  Alaska and Wyoming now have similar exceptions.  

What is bringing this all to pass?  The rumored Bear's Ears National Monument designation.  With the stroke of  The Presidential Pen, every section of land south of Canyonlands, East of Lake Powell, West of the section of Manti-LaSal National Forest that covers the Abajo Mountains and North of Utah Highway 95 would become a new National Monument.

While not quite the scope of Clinton's Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument of 1996, this one is still very large.  And this will will block, like GSENM, a large proposed mine.  Unlike GSENM, it is potash instead of coal.  This mine will be very small, but could provide hundreds of well-paying jobs to the economically depressed San Juan county region.  Unknown to most people, however, this could also block or curb development of what could become a major, if not the largest wind farm in Utah.  (Wind farms are no longer green, I guess.)

The Bear's Ears formation is actually just a pair of mesas to the northeast of Natural Bridges National Monument.  The formation is sacred to the Navajo Nation.  This area could be protected with a simple extension of NBNM.  But that is not what this is about.  Not only is the intent to stop mining, but to put an end to cattle grazing and OHV use in the area between Canyonlands and Lake Powell.

The Bear's Ears Mesa in San Juan County, Utah.  This photo was taken from the road that leads to nearby Natural Bridges National Monument.

Chaffetz and Bishop are on the right track.  President Obama seems to respect states that show some initiative...sort of.  And our Congressional Delegation deserves credit for beating President Obama to the punch here, but getting a proposal to the public before the President rubs the genie bottle and invokes the Antiquities Act yet again.  But their proposal probably doesn't stand much of a chance at becoming law.  It should pass the House of Representatives, but may not go any further.  Here is why.

1.  President Obama will likely not sign it, if it even gets to his desk.  (The Democrats in the Senate could block it by not bringing the proposal to cloture.  Harry Reid would likely be against it.  It could also be watered down with earmarks from other states.)  He may give Utah's delegation a pat on the back, but it may not go farther than that.  He is one president who has repeatedly demonstrated that he is unwilling to let go of power, and wants to use all that he can get away with.  One who loves to act without congressional authority will never give up any of that power, even if it is only a few fly-over counties in Eastern Utah.

2.  It will upset the Navajo Nation who wants Bears Ears preserved as a National Monument.  Perhaps it stands an improved chance of a presidential signature if at least Natural Bridges National Monument is extended to include the Bear's Ears mesa.  Chaffetz and Bishop should include that as part of the proposal and at least try to get the Navajos on their side if it is not already included.

The rumored Bear's Ears National Monument in orange.  The Actual location of the Bear's Ears Mesa is in black.

3.  Emery County doesn't want a national monument or park in their county.  Governors from Matheson to Huntsman have tried to designate the San Rafael Swell as a national monument, only to encounter pushback from Emery County officials.  (The Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry is right at the northwest edge of the San Rafael Swell.)  Each time a monument or park has been proposed, it has been tabled.  Even though the BLM is in charge of the land, the people in Emery County would view the new monument as an encroachment on their freedom.  There is a chance the Emery County will allow the quarry to become a National Monument, if they believe the entire Swell will be left alone.  However, they probably believe, with good reason, that this is nothing more than fools gold.

San Rafael Swell and Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry

4.  The environmental special interest does not compromise.  It's in their charter. (They blame Glen Canyon Dam, which they consider a disaster on compromise.)  They are that annoying little nephew that never goes to sleep.  If Obama capitulates and signs this bill into law, they will NEVER, EVER let him forget it.  They will dog him to his grave as the president who caved.  President Obama doesn't want this as part of his legacy.

I don't know how to fix the problem, other than to pray the President Obama doesn't react with his pen before he leaves office.  Perhaps keep his attention focused on other matters.  That is not going to be an easy task.  This proposal doesn't stand a snowball's chance in Saint George with the current administration.  One thing I can say about Joe Biden, is that if he is elected, at least he will listen.  Hellary Clinton, no way.  (Yes, I know I misspelled it.)  Donald Trump or any republican will likely sign the bill.

Let me add that declaring national parks for the sole purpose of getting tourist dollars is a bad idea.  If that is the reason behind any of this, let's kill the deal now.  The National Park Service doesn't hire marketing people.  How else do you explain Arches getting over 1 million visitors per year, where Cayonlands, right next door, sees 2/5 less than Arches?  They are practically in the same neighborhood.  The national parks are supposed to market themselves.  I hope that if Dino Monument becomes Dino National Park, that it can be one of those places that calls people to it by itself without any advertising.  Do you hear it calling you?

Dino Monument was originally created a century ago, 100 years ago this October, by President Woodrow Wilson.  It was expanded to its current size during the Great Depression by President Roosevelt so that some communities in western Moffat County, Colorado could use river rafting as a way to keep their communities alive after they lost all other sources of income.  River rafting through Dino Monument is one heck of a ride, especially in June when the river is high.

Dino Monument became a source of controversy during the 1950s when a hydroelectric project, the 500 foot-tall Echo Park Dam was proposed, along with a smaller dam downstream in Split Mountain Canyon.  It was defeated after a contentious debate and the Flaming Gorge Dam, which impounds a slightly larger reservoir with a slightly smaller dam (but with about half of the electricity generation of the two proposed dams) was built instead.  The Sierra Club will tell you that Glen Canyon Dam was the compromise put in place not to build a dam in Dino Monument, but the Glen Canyon Dam was considered for at least 30 years before the Echo Park Dam was proposed.  The Glen Canyon Dam probably would have been built anyway.

What do you think?  Do you think that Utah's Great Five should become the Super Six?  I think that eventually it should be 11 (see below).  But that is my opinion.  Let me know what you think.  I think a lot of Utahans don't want to see any changes at all and some even think that the five we have are too many.  Others don't like control from the Federal Government at all.

Echo Park area of Dino Monument.  The controversial dam would have been a few miles downstream from here, flooding this area.  In my book this park ranks about a 9.25 out of 10.  Perhaps you rank it higher.

Here are some other national park worthy sites in Utah:

Monument Valley on the Utah-Arizona border.  Currently, this is a Navajo Tribal Park, but in my book, worthy to be a national park.

This is the Escalante River in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.  This part of the controversial Clinton Legacy monument is national park worthy right down to the point where the river empties into Lake Powell.  You really have to visit this monument yourself to get an idea of how large it really is.

This is from the Grand Staircase or Paria Valley region of GSENM.  Definitely stunning enough to be a national park.

Here is a map of GSENM.  The green shaded area is the Ecalante Canyons area.  The Blue Shaded area is the Grand Staircase Section, or the Upper Paria River Valley.  The yellow section in-between is the Kaiparowits Plateau.  The middle section is the controversial part of the Clinton declaration from 1996.  As you can tell, there are not as many stunning sights in that area as there are in the others.  This section is probably does not meet national park standards.  There is a lot of coal in the southern section of the plateau, and stopping mining was the reason for such a large monument declaration.  If the Kaiparowits Plateau had not been included in Clinton's declaration, it would have been less controversial and could be two separate national parks by now.  You can get more information and photos from this site: http://david-mirjamfirst.com/GET-AWAY'S/(2009)-USA(July)/12a)ScenicByway12(UT)/imagepages/image73.html

I-70 snakes through the San Rafael Swell.  It is worth a visit.  If San Rafael Swell became a national park, it would be the only plateau park in Utah that could be visited from Salt Lake City with a single gas tank.

This is Temple Mountain on the southern edge of San Rafael Swell, just north of Goblin Valley State Park.  More information can be found here: http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/price/recreation/SanRafaelDesert.html

One of the many peaks in the High Unitas.  The only East-West mountain range in the Continental United States.  The dramatic peaks make it worthy for National Park consideration.