In April of this year, President Trump issued an executive order for Secretary of the Department of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, to conduct a 120-day review of several national monuments. First on his list was Bears Ears, a 1.35 million-acre site in southeastern Utah designated as federal land under the Obama administration just this past December. This act was an aggressive overreach of the White House that continues to hurt the state’s economy, farmers, and recreation. After much consideration, Secretary Zinke recommended that the President significantly reduce the size of the area.
Recently, Eagle Forum signed onto a coalition letter organized by the Sutherland Institute applauding President Trump on his executive order and urging him to return this power back to the people, not only in Utah but for all cases across the nation. When the Department of the Interior reviewed this letter, they reached out to Eagle Forum to meet. Tabitha, Eunie Smith, Gayle Ruzicka (Utah), and Janine Hansen (Nevada) all attended a meeting this week with officials from the DOI. They wanted to establish effective communication between Eagle Forum leaders and assured us that they will not be expanding federal lands in the future.