H.C.R. 1

1

ESCALANTE NATIONAL MONUMENT RESOLUTION
2 1997 GENERAL SESSION
3 STATE OF UTAH
4 Sponsor: Thomas Hatch
5 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE LEGISLATURE AND THE GOVERNOR URGING
6 CONGRESS TO AMEND THE FEDERAL ANTIQUITIES ACT TO REQUIRE
7 NEGOTIATION WITH IMPACTED STATES AND STRONGER CONSIDERATION OF
8 THE SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES OF
9 DESIGNATING NATIONAL MONUMENTS AND WILDERNESS AREAS.
10 Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah, the Governor concurring therein:
11 WHEREAS on September 18, 1996, President Clinton declared 1.7 million acres in
12 southern Utah as the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument;
13 WHEREAS the President's action abused the purpose of the 90-year-old Antiquities Act,
14 which allows him to act without congressional approval, by significantly over-reaching in the
15 number of acres designated;
16 WHEREAS the President ignored repeated requests to work through legislative processes
17 already in place under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Federal Land Policy
18 and Management Act (FLPMA) to determine areas appropriate for designation as national
19 monuments and wilderness areas;
20 WHEREAS the President ignored repeated requests from Utah's elected leaders to
21 negotiate a compromise;
22 WHEREAS the President failed to adequately consider the social implications of national
23 monument designation, including the fact that 20,000 acres of Utah's school trust lands lie within
24 the designated areas and will be rendered useless, resulting in a potential loss of billions of dollars
25 for the education of Utah's school children;
26 WHEREAS the President failed to consider the social implications of displacing substantial
27 numbers of citizens from their homes, places of employment, and way of life resulting from the

1 loss of economic development that will follow the designation;
2 WHEREAS the President failed to adequately consider the economic implications of
3 national monument designation, including the potential tax revenue loss to federal and state
4 government and the school trust fund of billions of dollars from mineral and petroleum exploration
5 and development and related jobs;
6 WHEREAS the President failed to adequately consider the environmental implications of
7 national monument designation, such as the 62 billion tons of coal deposits in the Kaiparowits
8 Coal Basin which is extremely efficient, low-sulfur, and clean-burning coal, and given the vast
9 reserves of clean-burning coal available, it is not environmentally nor economically sound to
10 continue to "waste" clean-burning coal reserves;
11 WHEREAS to ignore large domestic deposits of our cleanest-burning coal only increases
12 our dependence on foreign energy sources and reduces our energy and national security;
13 WHEREAS the President failed to consider alternative plans that would result in a more
14 sound environmental protection policy;
15 WHEREAS the declaration of 1.7 million acres as a national monument does nothing to
16 preserve a wilderness area, but rather ensures that the land becomes clogged with roads and tourist
17 buses;
18 WHEREAS a socially, economically, and environmentally sensible alternative proposal
19 would be to allow 350,000 acres to be designated as true "wilderness" areas to preserve their
20 natural beauty, while other areas could be designated as a national monument, and still others
21 reserved for mineral activity; and
22 WHEREAS the creation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument presents
23 significant negative social, economic, and environmental consequences for not only Utah's citizens
24 but all Americans:
25 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah, the
26 Governor concurring therein, urge the United States Congress to amend the Antiquities Act to
27 require the President to negotiate with impacted states and to consider more strongly the social,
28 economic, and environmental consequences in the designation of national monuments and
29 wilderness areas.
30 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor support policies
31 which balance the social, economic, and environmental needs of people and communities with the

- 2 -

1 needs of environmental preservation in federal decision making processes.
2 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be sent to the President of the
3 United States, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the President of the
4 United States Senate, and to the members of Utah's congressional delegation.




Legislative Review Note
as of 12-12-96 9:13 AM

A limited legal review of this bill raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel

- 3 -