BY THOMAS BURR
A new poll shows a majority of Utahns support President Barack Obama naming the Bears Ears region as a new national monument and that most residents also now back the once controversial Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
The survey, commissioned by The Pew Charitable Trusts, finds 55 percent of Utahns support the idea of protecting Bears Ears in southeastern Utah with a national monument designation. Some 41 percent oppose such a move.
The poll comes less than a month after members of Utah's congressional delegation introduced legislation to protect part of the region in an attempt to halt a monument designation that could be much larger in scope. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell also visited the area in July to tour the region and hold a town-hall meeting to gauge residents' input on how best to protect the area...