The Bureau of Land Management declined repeated requests for information about how they’re handling the lands and how many requests and claims came in. Steve Bloch, legal director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, said he was told by the BLM Friday afternoon that inquiries were made but no claims sent in. He noted the lands were open to claims for 150 years prior to President Barack Obama creating the national monument in 2016. “If a new mine were to open, it would be competing with existing mines in Utah for limited demand,” Vanden Berg said. President Trump downsized the Bears Ears National Monument by about 85 per cent and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by nearly half.

Source: National Post February 02, 2018 23:19 UTC