Clinton mulls plans for national monument in Utah
9/07/96
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c 1996 Cable News Network, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Associated Press
Clinton mulls plan for national monument in Utah
September 7, 1996
WASHINGTON (Reuter) - The Clinton administration is considering a
proposal to designate up to 1.8 million acres of federal land in Utah
as a national monument, The Washington Post reported in Saturday
editions.
The plan could prevent most future commercial development throughout
that part of south central Utah, a vast area rich in spectacular
scenery, coal reserves and land use disputes.
The land lies east of the town of Kanab and southwest of Capitol Reef
National Park.
The paper quoted sources inside and outside the administration as
saying that the most ambitious plan, still under review, called for
up to 1.8 million acres of land to be included in the national
monument, an area nearly as large as Yellowstone National Park.
Clinton could use a 1906 statute known as the Antiquities Act to
create the national monument without congressional approval.
If Clinton approves the proposal, it would probably stop development
of a giant coal mine planned by the Dutch firm Andalax Resources Inc.
in a remote area known as the Kaiparowits Plateau, the newspaper
reported.