New information emerged over the weekend on the advice Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is giving president Donald Trump on two national monuments in Utah.
A draft memo first reported in the Washington Post offers no new details on exactly how much smaller Zinke thinks the Bears Ears National Monument should be, or the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. That's what most Utahns want to know.
The memo contends the president has the authority to shrink the monuments. Monument advocates say no, and they're ready for court if the Trump administration acts on Zinke’s recommendation.
One recommendation seems likely to get support from both sides: that protecting monument resources requires adequate funding and staffing.
Read Secretary Zinke's draft memorandum on shrinking six national monuments.
