US President Donald Trump may soon revoke the protected status from Bears Ears National Monument, in southeastern Utah, opening parts of the area to mining and oil companies under a recommendation that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke issued on Thursday.
The monument, one of the 27 President Trump is taking a second look at, covers 1.3 million acres (about 5,260 square km).
Former President Barack Obama designated it a national monument near the end of his time in office and if Trump decides to reopen it for commercial mining and drilling, it would be a direct blow to his predecessor’s environmental legacy, and the first major test of a century-old conservation law, The New York Times reports.
Last month, a group of Utah and Arizona officials asked Trump to end a 20-year ban on uranium mining near the Grand Canyon, which came into effect in 2012.
The secretary’s final guidance to the President Trump should be known before the end of the week.
Source: Mining.com
