Last Wednesday, Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee introduced a new bill that would limit 鈥渢he establishment or extension of national monuments in the state of Utah.鈥 Except鈥t feels a lot like old bills he鈥檚 introduced, with no success, in the past.
This go-round, Lee鈥檚 calling it the PURE Act, which stands for 鈥淧rotect Utah鈥檚 Rural Economy.鈥
It鈥檚 his latest political spike strip, meant to impair a president from creating new national monuments in his state. In September 2016, that would prohibit extensions of monuments without the go-ahead from Congress. In August 2015, it was a bill that would (which was nearly to a bill he co-sponsored seven months prior). Actually, Lee has tried to squash presidential power to create monuments since at least June 2011聽with his , which sought to curb the establishment of new national forests, parks, wildlife refuges, and the like.
But the PURE Act is slightly different鈥攁t least in tone, name, and, perhaps most important, in the political era it鈥檚 being introduced. Last year, the Trump administration rolled back several national monuments, and two of those鈥擥rand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears鈥攁re in Utah. 鈥淚n both cases, the local residents were not appreciative of the monument, and the state did not have a voice in the designation itself,鈥 Conn Carroll, communications director for Lee, told 国产吃瓜黑料. Lee鈥檚 PURE Act 鈥渨ould provide pretty much the same protections that Wyoming has,鈥 Carroll says.
It鈥檚 maybe a little-known fact, but it鈥檚 true that Wyoming and Alaska restrict the establishment of new monuments within their boundaries unless Congress approves. Both were special cases, passed for different reasons, but it鈥檚 something Lee seems very interested in bringing to Utah.
For Alaska, this moment came in 1971, when President Richard Nixon signed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). It was meant to settle disputes over Na