Should a national monument encourage visitation to its grand attractions with paved roads and restrooms, or should federal managers seek to preserve the lands in their natural state?
That is among the key questions the Bureau of Land Management will be weighing over the next year as it crafts new management plans for the greatly reduced Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in southern Utah.
Kane County Commissioner Lamont Smith feels the BLM has erred in the past on the side of preservation, at the expense of meaningful visitor access and multiple use on the Grand Staircase’s 1.9 million acres, which President Donald Trump trimmed by nearly half...