US President Joe Biden signs three proclamations restoring protections stripped by the Trump administration for Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts national monuments
Issued on: 08/10/2021 -
Olivier DOULIERY AFP
Washington (AFP)
President Joe Biden on Friday restored environmental protections for two wild Utah expanses linked to America's indigenous history, and also a biodiverse area of the Atlantic, reversing his predecessor Donald Trump's move to open the national monuments to mining and fishing.
Biden signed the proclamations at a ceremony on the North Lawn at the White House, restoring the full size and status at Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments in Utah, as well as the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts area off the east coast.
"After the last administration chipped away their protections, today I'm proud to announce the protection and expansion of three of our most treasured national monuments," he said.
Trump downgraded the three monuments in a move popular with industry groups but outraging environmentalists and indigenous tribes.
Biden also became the first US president to issue a proclamation for Indigenous Peoples' Day, which coincides with the increasingly controversial national holiday celebrating explorer Christopher Columbus.
"For generations, federal policies systematically sought to assimilate and displace native people and eradicate native cultures. Today, we recognize indigenous peoples' resilience and strength, as well as the immeasurable positive impact that they have made," Biden said in the proclamation.
In a separate proclamation celebrating Columbus, Biden emphasized the immigration from Italy over subsequent centuries after the navigator opened up the Americas to Europeans, while on a voyage searching for a route to Asia.
With increasing focus on the terrible costs paid by peoples already living on the continent as European settlers expanded westward, Columbus is often seen today as a problematic figure.
Biden reflected this, saying, "We also acknowledge the painful history of wrongs and atrocities that many European explorers inflicted on tribal nations and indigenous communities."
"It is a measure of our greatness as a nation that we do not seek to bury these shameful episodes of our past -- that we face them honestly, we bring them to the light," Biden said. "For Native Americans, western exploration ushered in a wave of devastation."
© 2021 AFP
Washington (AFP)
President Joe Biden on Friday restored environmental protections for two wild Utah expanses linked to America's indigenous history, and also a biodiverse area of the Atlantic, reversing his predecessor Donald Trump's move to open the national monuments to mining and fishing.
Biden signed the proclamations at a ceremony on the North Lawn at the White House, restoring the full size and status at Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments in Utah, as well as the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts area off the east coast.
"After the last administration chipped away their protections, today I'm proud to announce the protection and expansion of three of our most treasured national monuments," he said.
Trump downgraded the three monuments in a move popular with industry groups but outraging environmentalists and indigenous tribes.
Biden also became the first US president to issue a proclamation for Indigenous Peoples' Day, which coincides with the increasingly controversial national holiday celebrating explorer Christopher Columbus.
"For generations, federal policies systematically sought to assimilate and displace native people and eradicate native cultures. Today, we recognize indigenous peoples' resilience and strength, as well as the immeasurable positive impact that they have made," Biden said in the proclamation.
In a separate proclamation celebrating Columbus, Biden emphasized the immigration from Italy over subsequent centuries after the navigator opened up the Americas to Europeans, while on a voyage searching for a route to Asia.
With increasing focus on the terrible costs paid by peoples already living on the continent as European settlers expanded westward, Columbus is often seen today as a problematic figure.
Biden reflected this, saying, "We also acknowledge the painful history of wrongs and atrocities that many European explorers inflicted on tribal nations and indigenous communities."
"It is a measure of our greatness as a nation that we do not seek to bury these shameful episodes of our past -- that we face them honestly, we bring them to the light," Biden said. "For Native Americans, western exploration ushered in a wave of devastation."
© 2021 AFP
Biden restores 3 national monuments in Utah, New England downsized by Trump
President Joe Biden, with Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (R) and White House national climate adviser Gina McCarthy, participate in a signing ceremony to restore and protect three national monuments on Friday. Photo by Shawn Thew/UPI | License Photo
Oct. 8 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden restored lands in three national monuments Friday, calling it "the easiest thing I've ever done so far as president."
He signed three proclamations securing the new protections during a ceremony on the White House's North Lawn, accompanied by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, lawmakers, and dozens of tribal leaders, conservationists and environmental activists.
The orders restore -- and even add -- land to the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments in Utah, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument in New England. Protections for all three locations were rolled back by former President Donald Trump.
"These protections provide a bridge to our past, but they also build a bridge to a safer, more sustainable future," Biden said. "One where we strengthen our economy and pass on a healthy planet to our children and grandchildren."
Hope Tribe Vice Chairman Clark Tenakhongva said the land that comprises Bears Ears National Monument is sacred to his tribe.
"It's on the same level as any kind of church or foundation or facility," he said. "It's very important to the lifeline of all nations and all people."
Haaland, the nation's first Native American interior secretary, praised Biden for listening to Indigenous people concerning the protection of the lands.
"The president's actions today write the new chapter that embraces Indigenous knowledge, ensures tribal leadership has a seat at the table and demonstrates that by working together, we can build a brighter future for us all."
Officials said Biden will slightly enlarge 1.3 million acres in the Bears Ears National Monument that were previously under federal protection, as well as 1.8 million acres in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
The restoration in Northeast Canyons and Seamounts -- the first U.S. marine monuments in the Atlantic Ocean -- will return protections to sea canyons and underwater mountains near the New England coast.
RELATED U.S. national parks boost online messages to reduce risky behavior
Former President Barack Obama created the boundaries for the controversial Bears Ears monument in late 2016, but Trump scaled them back the following year. Trump, in fact, removed more than 2 million acres from the monuments in Utah.
Trump's scaling back federal protections opened up the lands, which are sacred to several Native American tribes, to mineral mining.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, was critical of Biden's move Friday, saying the Utah monuments were being "used as a political football between administrations."
"The president squandered the opportunity to build consensus by working with stakeholders to find a permanent, legislative solution to resolve the longstanding dispute over the monuments' boundaries & management, which would've brought certainty to and benefited all stakeholders," he tweeted.
Environmental advocates applauded Biden's decision.
"Bears Ears Will Be Protected! We applaud expected Biden administration actions to restore protections for Bears Ears and its one-of-a-kind and sacred landscape," the Native American Rights Fund said in a statement.
"Bears Ears protections were established after years of negotiations, input, and advocacy on behalf of tribes, states, non-governmental organizations and the public. Those hard-earned protections were removed in 2017. The area subsequently saw a rash of exploitation and abuse by vandals, commercial interests and misinformed tourists."
Republican politicians in Utah oppose the move to restore protections to the monuments.
"We expected and hoped for closer collaboration between our state and national leaders, especially on matters that directly impact Utah and our citizens," Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, Attorney General Sean Reyes, state Senate President J. Stuart Adams and state House Speaker Brad Wilson said in a joint statement.
"The president's decision to enlarge the monuments again is a tragic missed opportunity. It fails to provide certainty as well as the funding for law enforcement, research, and other protections which the monuments need and which only Congressional action can offer."
President Joe Biden, with Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (R) and White House national climate adviser Gina McCarthy, participate in a signing ceremony to restore and protect three national monuments on Friday. Photo by Shawn Thew/UPI | License Photo
Oct. 8 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden restored lands in three national monuments Friday, calling it "the easiest thing I've ever done so far as president."
He signed three proclamations securing the new protections during a ceremony on the White House's North Lawn, accompanied by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, lawmakers, and dozens of tribal leaders, conservationists and environmental activists.
The orders restore -- and even add -- land to the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments in Utah, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument in New England. Protections for all three locations were rolled back by former President Donald Trump.
"These protections provide a bridge to our past, but they also build a bridge to a safer, more sustainable future," Biden said. "One where we strengthen our economy and pass on a healthy planet to our children and grandchildren."
Hope Tribe Vice Chairman Clark Tenakhongva said the land that comprises Bears Ears National Monument is sacred to his tribe.
"It's on the same level as any kind of church or foundation or facility," he said. "It's very important to the lifeline of all nations and all people."
Haaland, the nation's first Native American interior secretary, praised Biden for listening to Indigenous people concerning the protection of the lands.
"The president's actions today write the new chapter that embraces Indigenous knowledge, ensures tribal leadership has a seat at the table and demonstrates that by working together, we can build a brighter future for us all."
Officials said Biden will slightly enlarge 1.3 million acres in the Bears Ears National Monument that were previously under federal protection, as well as 1.8 million acres in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
The restoration in Northeast Canyons and Seamounts -- the first U.S. marine monuments in the Atlantic Ocean -- will return protections to sea canyons and underwater mountains near the New England coast.
RELATED U.S. national parks boost online messages to reduce risky behavior
Former President Barack Obama created the boundaries for the controversial Bears Ears monument in late 2016, but Trump scaled them back the following year. Trump, in fact, removed more than 2 million acres from the monuments in Utah.
Trump's scaling back federal protections opened up the lands, which are sacred to several Native American tribes, to mineral mining.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, was critical of Biden's move Friday, saying the Utah monuments were being "used as a political football between administrations."
"The president squandered the opportunity to build consensus by working with stakeholders to find a permanent, legislative solution to resolve the longstanding dispute over the monuments' boundaries & management, which would've brought certainty to and benefited all stakeholders," he tweeted.
Environmental advocates applauded Biden's decision.
"Bears Ears Will Be Protected! We applaud expected Biden administration actions to restore protections for Bears Ears and its one-of-a-kind and sacred landscape," the Native American Rights Fund said in a statement.
"Bears Ears protections were established after years of negotiations, input, and advocacy on behalf of tribes, states, non-governmental organizations and the public. Those hard-earned protections were removed in 2017. The area subsequently saw a rash of exploitation and abuse by vandals, commercial interests and misinformed tourists."
Republican politicians in Utah oppose the move to restore protections to the monuments.
"We expected and hoped for closer collaboration between our state and national leaders, especially on matters that directly impact Utah and our citizens," Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, Attorney General Sean Reyes, state Senate President J. Stuart Adams and state House Speaker Brad Wilson said in a joint statement.
"The president's decision to enlarge the monuments again is a tragic missed opportunity. It fails to provide certainty as well as the funding for law enforcement, research, and other protections which the monuments need and which only Congressional action can offer."
Biden restores protections to Utah land where dinosaurs once roamed
Issued on: 09/10/2021 -
Issued on: 09/10/2021 -
In this file photo taken in July 2021 researchers work to excavate dinosaur bones and fossils during an expedition at the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah
Patrick T. FALLON AFP/File
Denver (AFP)
Utah land rich in dinosaur fossils has regained protection stripped away by former President Donald Trump, easing fears that they would be ravaged by mining and other commercial activity.
"Close to 10 percent of all dinosaurs known in the world are from Utah," said Jim Kirkland, a paleontologist who has explored Utah's Grand Staircase monument area for nearly 50 years. "It's pretty remarkable."
Grand Staircase has a worldwide reputation for the quality and range of dinosaur fossils found.
At the end of 2017, Trump's administration pulled back borders of three protected areas, two of them in Utah, opening previously safeguarded land to mining and fishing.
The move was popular with industry groups but angered conservationists, researchers, and indigenous tribes.
"When they cut the boundaries back, some sites that are near and dear to my heart, that I had discovered, were chopped out," Kirkland told AFP.
He was left to hope that the remains of triceratops and other dinosaurs would not be obliterated in the name of corporate profit.
President Joe Biden on Friday restored environmental protections for two wild Utah expanses linked to America's indigenous history, and also a biodiverse area of the Atlantic.
Biden signed the proclamations at a ceremony on the North Lawn at the White House, restoring the full size and status at Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments in Utah, as well as the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts area off the east coast.
"After the last administration chipped away their protections, today I'm proud to announce the protection and expansion of three of our most treasured national monuments," he said.
- Bones vs Coal -
For paleontologists, few regions in the world come close to the Rocky Mountains, with the dinosaur treasures buried there.
During the Late Cretaceous period -- 100 to 66 million ago years ago, just before the dinosaurs went extinct -- all kinds of dinosaurs and mammals inhabited the area.
Researchers continue to be amazed by the diversity and abundance of dinosaur bones found here, along with how well they have been preserved.
A few scattered vertebrae are not enough to identify a previously unknown species. To do that, scientists need many parts of a skeleton and, ideally, specimens from several of the creatures.
"So many of our duck-billed dinosaurs, like this one, are still covered with the impressions of their skin; you can see their scales," said Joe Sertich, dinosaurs curator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
"The mudstone and sandstone of Grand Staircase preserve some of the best quality dinosaur bones you'll see anywhere in the world."
But the land is also rich in minerals such as coal and it is of interest to the tourism industry and ranchers.
Sertich believes the competing interests could co-exist, but taking away protected status opens the door to theft, vandalism, and destruction.
"When you operate a coal mine... many of these fossils are lost forever," Sertich told AFP during a tour of the museum.
- The last dinosaur -
And while some may think that digging up dinosaur bones is not a priority, scientists say studying how they lived and died provides a better understanding of climate change threatening life today.
"By going back into dinosaur ecosystems, we learn a lot about the world around us right now," Sertich said.
"This is the only way we can learn how evolution works on millions-of-year time scales."
He has been combing the Grand Staircase for fossils for 17 years.
"Being able to find to find new dinosaurs every time you spend one or two weeks out in the field is unlike anything you can do anywhere," the museum curator said.
Sertich pointed to bones from a new species of domed dinosaur that were unearthed just five meters from Trump's shrunken boundary line.
"By preserving a place like this, we have this repository where dinosaurs can always be discovered," Sertich said.
© 2021 AFP
Denver (AFP)
Utah land rich in dinosaur fossils has regained protection stripped away by former President Donald Trump, easing fears that they would be ravaged by mining and other commercial activity.
"Close to 10 percent of all dinosaurs known in the world are from Utah," said Jim Kirkland, a paleontologist who has explored Utah's Grand Staircase monument area for nearly 50 years. "It's pretty remarkable."
Grand Staircase has a worldwide reputation for the quality and range of dinosaur fossils found.
At the end of 2017, Trump's administration pulled back borders of three protected areas, two of them in Utah, opening previously safeguarded land to mining and fishing.
The move was popular with industry groups but angered conservationists, researchers, and indigenous tribes.
"When they cut the boundaries back, some sites that are near and dear to my heart, that I had discovered, were chopped out," Kirkland told AFP.
He was left to hope that the remains of triceratops and other dinosaurs would not be obliterated in the name of corporate profit.
President Joe Biden on Friday restored environmental protections for two wild Utah expanses linked to America's indigenous history, and also a biodiverse area of the Atlantic.
Biden signed the proclamations at a ceremony on the North Lawn at the White House, restoring the full size and status at Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments in Utah, as well as the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts area off the east coast.
"After the last administration chipped away their protections, today I'm proud to announce the protection and expansion of three of our most treasured national monuments," he said.
- Bones vs Coal -
For paleontologists, few regions in the world come close to the Rocky Mountains, with the dinosaur treasures buried there.
During the Late Cretaceous period -- 100 to 66 million ago years ago, just before the dinosaurs went extinct -- all kinds of dinosaurs and mammals inhabited the area.
Researchers continue to be amazed by the diversity and abundance of dinosaur bones found here, along with how well they have been preserved.
A few scattered vertebrae are not enough to identify a previously unknown species. To do that, scientists need many parts of a skeleton and, ideally, specimens from several of the creatures.
"So many of our duck-billed dinosaurs, like this one, are still covered with the impressions of their skin; you can see their scales," said Joe Sertich, dinosaurs curator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
"The mudstone and sandstone of Grand Staircase preserve some of the best quality dinosaur bones you'll see anywhere in the world."
But the land is also rich in minerals such as coal and it is of interest to the tourism industry and ranchers.
Sertich believes the competing interests could co-exist, but taking away protected status opens the door to theft, vandalism, and destruction.
"When you operate a coal mine... many of these fossils are lost forever," Sertich told AFP during a tour of the museum.
- The last dinosaur -
And while some may think that digging up dinosaur bones is not a priority, scientists say studying how they lived and died provides a better understanding of climate change threatening life today.
"By going back into dinosaur ecosystems, we learn a lot about the world around us right now," Sertich said.
"This is the only way we can learn how evolution works on millions-of-year time scales."
He has been combing the Grand Staircase for fossils for 17 years.
"Being able to find to find new dinosaurs every time you spend one or two weeks out in the field is unlike anything you can do anywhere," the museum curator said.
Sertich pointed to bones from a new species of domed dinosaur that were unearthed just five meters from Trump's shrunken boundary line.
"By preserving a place like this, we have this repository where dinosaurs can always be discovered," Sertich said.
© 2021 AFP
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