BY KIRK SIEGLER
A lot of the anger over federal public land in rural Utah today can be traced back to a windy, gray day in Arizona in September 1996. At the Grand Canyon, President Bill Clinton formally designated the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, more than 100 miles away.
"On this remarkable site, God's handiwork is everywhere in the natural beauty of the Escalante Canyons," he said.
Clinton didn't set foot in Utah. The planning for the monument was largely done in secret and state leaders had little warning it was coming...