DENVER—President Donald Trump today signed proclamations abolishing Bears Ears and Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monuments. He is replacing them with five new and much smaller monuments. The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Executive Director Jennifer Rokala:
“Today President Trump is sacrificing tribal heritage, paleontological discoveries, and the small business owners who drive America’s outdoor economy, all in the name of coal, oil, and uranium. We’ve never seen an attack on America’s parks and public lands at this scale.
“This is the Trump legacy. He is the first president in American history to try to strip protections from millions of acres set aside for our children and grandchildren.”
Native American groups and sovereign tribal nations will immediately file suit to block President Trump’s proclamations in court. Mainstream legal scholars agree that the law, including the Antiquities Act of 1906 and the Federal Land Policy Management Act of 1976, does not give presidents the power to rescind national monument designations—Congress reserved that authority for itself.
Earlier this year, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s sham “review” of national monuments concluded with a secret error-filled report that ignored the wishes of 2.8 million Americans who urged Trump and Zinke to keep America’s national monuments intact.
Bears Ears National Monument was protected in 2016 at the behest of five sovereign tribal nations with a deep spiritual and cultural connection to the land. The national monument, which had first been proposed for conservation over 80 years ago, has one of the highest concentrations of cultural and archaeological sites in the nation. Prior to its protection, the archaeological sites in Bears Ears experience rampant looting and vandalism. President Trump’s decision threatens tens of thousands of cultural and archaeological sites.
Protected in 1996, Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument has become an important economic driver for rural communities in southern Utah. The remote region was the last area to be mapped in the continental United States and today the unspoiled cliffs and plateaus of the monument serve as a living laboratory for researchers and explorers, drawing visitors from across the world. The monument has been described as a ‘treasure trove’ for paleontology, offering scientists a rare glimpse into the ancient environments of the American West. Paleontologists have discovered 25 unique dinosaur species and expect to find more; only six percent of Grand Staircase–Escalante has been surveyed by paleontologists so far.
Maps: Shrinking national monuments makes way for extracting oil, coal, and uranium
Trying to shrink Bears Ears, Trump makes it clear whose heritage he cares about
All of the falsehoods in Ryan Zinke’s leaked national monuments report
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With holiday shopping inching us closer to a record year for credit card debt and resolution season not far off, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released an in-depth report on 2017’s Best & Worst Cities for Wallet Fitness.
Wallet Fitness is about turning the country’s biggest stressor – money, according to the American Psychological Association – into one of your biggest strengths. Reaching top Wallet Fitness means you’re in a stable financial position, able to comfortably meet existing obligations as well as plan for the future.
With that in mind, WalletHub compared more than 180 U.S. cities across 29 key metrics – ranging from unemployment, poverty and foreclosure rates to income volatility and savings habits – to see where people are in the best and worst financial shape. You can find a handful of highlights below.
10 Best Cities for Wallet Fitness
10 Worst Cities for Wallet Fitness
1
Fremont, CA
173
Oxnard, CA
2
San Francisco, CA
174
Miami, FL
3
Madison, WI
175
New Orleans, LA
4
Columbia, MD
176
Gulfport, MS
5
San Jose, CA
177
Santa Ana, CA
6
Seattle, WA
178
Brownsville, TX
7
Minneapolis, MN
179
San Bernardino, CA
8
Sioux Falls, SD
180
North Las Vegas, NV
9
Bismarck, ND
181
Newark, NJ
10
Warwick, RI
182
Hialeah, FL
Best vs. Worst
To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-cities-for-walletfitness/2862
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Utah GOP elected officials just cannot seem to stop their absurd flattery and blowing of smoke at this clearly terrible president. Does no one in the Utah DC delegation have enough cojones (noun, Spanish, courage) to tell the truth? Read more
“The president is working hard to persuade 83-year-old Sen. Orrin Hatch to run for reelection, and Mitt isn't happy about it, people close to him say.”Read more
Serious researchers warn that much of the lake bed could be exposed in the next 30 to 50 years. This is HUMAN caused. Read more
For so many reasons, this has been the worst President of our lifetime. But he is Trump being Trump. Never expected anything different. The unexpected part of this equation is the complete surrender by Utah’s political rulers to embrace this horrible man and his ugly ideas. Read more
Shame. The Utah Governor, Republican Legislature and the all GOP DC delegation promised us that they care. They said they would protect the land. Now they have complete control and look what they have done. Their proposal is that Bears Ears be decimated by 85 percent, Grand Staircase by 50 percent. That's what they call protection. Read more
A very scary prediction from the Washington Post editorial page Read more
Q: Senator, I have lived in Utah my whole life and this has been bothering me. If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?
A: Infant dinosaurs.
Q: Senator, if Utah is supposed to get $677 million dollars a year as our share of Medicaid Expansion why would Utah turn down the money?
A: Do penguins have knees?
Q: Senator, as a child I used to go with my mother to ZCMI Department store and get fresh hot bread with butter and homemade jam. It was delicious. What was the best thing before sliced bread?
A: Bell bottom pants.
