State Republican leaders have asked a federal appeal court to roll back a national monument in Utah as they plan to file their own lawsuit over a new monument in Arizona.
Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma urged the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a previous decision to keep protections in place for Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments.
Grand Staircase-Escalante was originally designated by former President Bill Clinton, while Barack Obama designated Bears Ears in 2016. Both were then scaled back by the Trump administration in 2017 before they were restored by Joe Biden later.
An attorney for Petersen and Toma argued in a court filing that Congress only authorizes presidents to designate historic landmarks and other objects.
They say the Utah monuments overstep that authority – as does the recent national monument designation at the Grand Canyon.
Petersen recently gave Senate attorneys the green light to sue the Biden administration over the 1-million-acre Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument
Arizona Capitol Times reports the Senate’s communications director says the Utah case will lay the groundwork as Arizona prepares for its own challenge.