Arizona Public Radio | Your Source for NPR News
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
SERVICE ALERT:

Our 88.7 transmitter site sustained a fire of unknown origin. We have installed a bypass that has returned us to full power, though repairs are still ongoing. Our HD service remains inoperable. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience as we continue to work on the transmitter. Online streaming remains unaffected.

Arizona GOP sign onto challenge of Utah national monuments

President Joe Biden restored the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument in southern Utah in 2021 after it was shrunk 85% by the Trump administration in 2017
Bob Wick
/
Bureau of Land Management
President Joe Biden restored the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument in southern Utah in 2021 after it was shrunk 85% by the Trump administration in 2017

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.