Let's appreciate the beauty of Bears Ears & Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments.

[Taki]

As you all know by now, President Trump has ordered Bears Ears National Monument & Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments to be significantly reduced in size. They were first created & expanded by Presidents Clinton and Obama.

Under Trump's order, these two lands would be reduced by 85% and ~50% in size, respectively. For Bears Ears, that is a reduction from 1,351,849 acres to 201,876 acres. For Grand Staircase-Escalante, that is a reduction from 1,880,461 acres to 1,006,341 acres.

These lands will be opened up to gas, uranium and oil prospecting.

Various Native American tribal groups are suing the federal government over these actions, as these lands contain a wealth of not only natural beauty but also Native American artifacts and artwork.

Here's a GIF showing Before & After the size reductions:

Here are some pictures of Bears Ears National Monument:

And here are some pictures of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

 

[DecentDuck]

They're all beautiful but that last picture is just captivating.

 

[signal]

How many visits do national parks in the US get per year? A lot of them seem amazing and I'd love to visit several, but they never appear to be that popular amongst Americans. I think a lot of foreign tourists go, though.

 

[MopDog]

Trump is a bitch ass ho.

I'm taking a trip to Grand Staircase this week, as well as the surrounding national parks. Can't wait to experience that area.

 

[Officer Big Mac]

There's not much interest from the private sector to even drill for fossil fuels. It largely seems driven by politicians. Nobody even knows if there is any fuel to be mined.

But Once these lands are under private control, that's it. Nobody's going to see them again.

 

[Soliloquy of a Dogge]

Gorgeous. Absolutely breathtaking.

I asked in the previous thread but never got an answer. I'm out of my depth when it comes to this issue and the antiquities act, but do the lawsuits brought forth have any chance of succeeding?

 

[Titik]

How many visits do national parks in the US get per year? A lot of them seem amazing and I'd love to visit several, but they never appear to be that popular amongst Americans. I think a lot of foreign tourists go, though.

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They are actually quite popular with Americans. There were talks of increasing the prices because the past few years have been record breaking.

 

[signal]

They are actually quite popular with Americans. There were talks of increasing the prices because the past few years have been record breaking.

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Oh alright, bad perception on my part then. Good to hear though.

 

[Taki]

How many visits do national parks in the US get per year? A lot of them seem amazing and I'd love to visit several, but they never appear to be that popular amongst Americans. I think a lot of foreign tourists go, though.

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The Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument received 878,000 visitors in 2014. Can't easily find that data about Bears Ears.

 

[Baked Pigeon]

Im biased for having grown up in Utah but I absolutely love it and think its the most scenic state. Truly some amazing places and views to be seen. Anything that takes away from preserving these parks can piss off.

 

[Sloane]

Im biased for having grown up in Utah but I absolutely love it and think its the most scenic state. Truly some amazing places and views to be seen.

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For sure, so many different fantastic parks -- although a couple of those photos aren't actually of GSE, I think.

The Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument received 878,000 visitors in 2014. Can't easily find that data about Bears Ears.

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I wonder how this is being counted. Is everyone driving Highway 12 / 89 a visitor?

 

[Wafflinson]

For sure, so many different fantastic parks -- although a couple of those photos aren't actually of GSE, I think.


I wonder how this is being counted. Is everyone driving Highway 12 / 89 a visitor?

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You have to buy a ticket to get in most national parks. All the southern Utah ones are obscenely popular.

 

[Sloane]

You have to buy a ticket to get in most national parks.

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Not Escalante though, that's mostly a bunch of viewpoints and trails along Highway 12, Highway 89, and the dirt roads (Cottonwood Canyon, Hole-in-the-Rock, Skutumpah) in between with no entrance stations anywhere, which is part of the beauty of it.

 

[mac]

Are any of the sites you posted under threat from Trump's latest action?

 

[Sloane]

Are any of the sites you posted under threat from Trump's latest action?

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Those hoodoos (Wahweap, Toadstool) wouldn't be part of GSE anymore. Other than that, hard to tell from the map, think most would still be in it. The Wave (last pic) is technically in Arizona and not really part of the National Monument.

 

[mac]

Those hoodoos (Wahweap, Toadstool) wouldn't be part of GSE anymore.[/B] Other than that, hard to tell from the map, think most would still be in it. The Wave (last pic) is technically in Arizona and not really part of the National Monument.

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If any attempt is made to develop on them or their nearby lands I expect massive protests. Gross that it would even need to occur, those are natural wonders.

 

[Taki]

Are any of the sites you posted under threat from Trump's latest action?

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Yes. Here's a map that shows how many designated scenic/tourist sites that are now gonna be gone. Green outline is original boundary; dark green shading is new boundary.

Here's a New York Times article that specifies which cultural, archeaological or geological sites of note are either still included or now completely missing from protection. Excluded from the new Monument boundaries are various native american cliff dwellings, cave/rock drawings, and entire swaths of valleys: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/08/climate/bears-ears-monument-trump.html

Here are some that will no longer be protected from human development or damage:

Rock art in the Moqui Canyon area:

A cliff dwelling in the Dark Canyon Wilderness Area:

Pictographs at Grand Gulch:

Indian Creek Canyon:

The ENTIRE Valley of the Gods will now be excluded:

This all used to be YOUR land.

 

[mac]

Yes. Here's a map that shows how many designated scenic/tourist sites that are now gonna be gone. Green outline is original boundary; dark green shading is new boundary.



Here's a New York Times article that specifies which cultural, archeaological or geological sites of note are either still included or now completely missing from protection. Excluded from the new Monument boundaries are various native american cliff dwellings, cave/rock drawings, and entire swaths of valleys: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/08/climate/bears-ears-monument-trump.html




A cliff dwelling in the Dark Canyon Wilderness Area:

The ENTIRE Valley of the Gods will now be excluded:

This all used to be YOUR land.

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Holy crap, even cliff dwellings. The org I work with will battle this till the end if any of these lands are up for deconstruction. The line about it being "your land" is especially poignant because this was literally my people's land.

 

[LOCK]

I hate Trump so much.

 

[xbhaskarx]

1. Both parties are the same
2. But her emails
3. Those pics aren't as beautiful as the sweet sweet natural resources underneath

 

[Illest1]

Trump is a bitch ass ho.

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Straight up. Fuuuuuuuck that dude.

 

[Heshinsi]

1. Both parties are the same
2. But her emails
3. Those pics aren't as beautiful as the sweet sweet natural resources underneath

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Every single progressive who sat out or protest voted is making me sit here and rage right now. The mountain of difference between the two candidates, and the sheer number of people Trump would directly fuck over and/or hurt, is something these people knew and in the end didn't care about.

 

[mac]

Every single progressive who sat out or protest voted is making me sit here and rage right now. The mountain of difference between the two candidates, and the sheer number of people Trump would directly fuck over and/or hurt, is something these people knew and in the end didn't care about.

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Who are those people who protest voted?

 

[MrKlaw]

OP can you exit your title or openignmpost to make clear Trump is ordering them to be reduced? I kind of worked it out after re-reading a few times and looking at the gifs, but it isn't clear at all on first reading.

 

[riotous]

Just more petty Trump crap, he couldn't be more transparent and obvious/ Bears Ears being particularly egregious. It was just "public land" up until last December; he probably would have never acted to privatize it. But since Obama made it an official "Monument" he's doing this shit clearly on purpose.

 

[Taki]

OP can you exit your title or openignmpost to make clear Trump is ordering them to be reduced? I kind of worked it out after re-reading a few times and looking at the gifs, but it isn't clear at all on first reading.

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Fixed. My apologies and thanks for pointing that out. I made a typo in the first paragraph.

 

[Heshinsi]

Who are those people who protest voted?

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People who pencilled in Bernie Sanders or Mickey Mouse on the voting cards for starters. There were more people who did that in Florida for example, than the number of votes Trump won by in that state. Seriously, a battleground state and that's what you do.

This guy tells them that he's going to fuck with all these people, and turn back the dial on a bunch of legislation, and their response to it all is, "yeah but I don't think it's going to directly affect me, so I'm going to take my ball and go home. Sucks for all of you though, see you in 2020."