Sandstone walls tower over a beaver dam in Calf Creek. The area is currently part of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument./ Al Hartmann | Tribune file photo
By Thomas Burr | The Salt Lake Tribune
A day after President Donald Trump sliced up two Utah national monuments in 2017, members of Congress from the state introduced bills to cement the president’s actions and defend them against instant court challenges.
“Dude, there’s nothing quite like Utah,” said Rep. Chris Stewart, a Republican who supported dismantling the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. “We want to share that with as many people as we can.”
Stewart introduced legislation that would codify Trump’s shrinking of the Grand Staircase monument to 1 million acres from 1.9 million acres as well as create a new national park.
