Isn t this monument the mother of all land grabs?
Senator Orrin Hatch claimed that it is. In reality, the lands at issue are federal public lands and are to be managed consistent with national public interest, rather than solely in the interest of local county commissioners and foreign mining companies. Perhaps the term “land grab” applies more appropriately to the attempt of Utah politicians in 1995 and 1996 to force their anti-wilderness bills, H.R. 1745 and S. 884, upon the American public. Their intransigence only proved to the President that rational negotiation on land protection issues in southern Utah is not possible.
