Clinton Declares New National Monument, Limiting Land Development in Utah

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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

9/20/96

OVERVIEW & SOURCE by EE

President Clinton, perhaps equally concerned with his environmental legacy

as reelection chances, recently used the Grand Canyon as a backdrop to

announce the new Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. At 1.7

million acres, the region is an enormously important wilderness area which

also links a number of other protected areas into a more contiguous

preserved region. President Clinton deserves much credit for this action.

g.b.

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Clinton limits land development in Utah

9/18/96

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz., Sept 18 (Reuter) -

Using the beauty of the Grand Canyon as a campaign backdrop, President Bill

Clinton on Wednesday signed an order that ends new land development on 1.7

million acres (690,000 hectares) of federal land in southern Utah.

Calling the area "some of the most remarkable land in the world," Clinton

said "in protecting it we live up to our obligation to preserve a national

heritage".

Faced with strong opposition to the move in Utah, where he came third in

1992 behind then-President George Bush and independent challenger Ross

Perot, Clinton opted to make his announcement in neighbouring Arizona -- a

state his political strategists believe he can win in November.

Standing near the site where President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 issued a

decree protecting the Grand Canyon from development, Clinton formally made

the vast stretch of red rock canyons and plateaus in southern Utah the

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

The move, which does not require congressional approval, means no new

mining leases will be issued for land with one of the nation's largest coal

reserves, estimated to have a potential value of trillions of dollars.

While mining was important to the nation's economy, Clinton said, "We can't

have mines everywhere and we shouldn't have mines that threaten our

national treasures."

The decision applies to Grand Staircase, adjacent to Bryce Canyon National

Park, the Kaiparowits Plateau, adjacent to Glen Canyon National Recreation

Area, and Esclante basin, which is next to Capital Reef National Park.

Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt and the state's congressional delegation called a

news conference in Washington to vigorously oppose closing the area to

development because of concerns about the economic impact on the state.

"In the same instant Bill Clinton claims to be the environmental president,

he locks up 62 billion tons of the cleanest, most environmentally

beneficial coal in the United States," said Sen. Bob Bennett, a Utah

Republican.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, the other Republican senator from the state, said there

had been no consultation before Clinton made the decision.

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit, travelling with Clinton, said the order

did not revoke a lease already given to Dutch-owned Andalex Resources Corp.

to mine the high-quality coal on the Kaiparowits Plateau. But he said it

imposed environmental standards that must be met before determining

whether mining could be carried out.

PacifiCorp, which holds the only other major lease for mining, last week

agreed to exchange its lease for rights on other land. Grazing will

continue to be permitted, and hunting and fishing will continue under state

control.

With the race for the White House heading toward its Nov. 5 conclusion,

Clinton sought to promote his concerns about safeguarding the environment -

- something pollsters say ranks high in importance among voters, many of

whom have doubts about Republican handling of the issue.

Vice President Al Gore, who wrote a best-selling book on environmental

concerns around the world, criticised congressional Republicans and said

"if they got their way, they would do pretty serious damage" to the

environment.

"We're going to stand up to it and we're going to prevail," Gore said in

introducing Clinton at the ceremony.

In August, Clinton went to Yellowstone National Park and announced an

agreement stopping mining operations at New World Mine, on the fringe of

the park. The action, and Clinton's moves to stop mining around a portion

of Yellowstone, have strengthened his standing in several Western states --

a region traditionally considered a Republican stronghold.

Clinton was to fly to Washington state for a nighttime rally and then lead

a bus caravan through the state on Thursday before heading to Oregon. He

campaigns in Oregon and South Dakota on Friday, before returning to the

White House.

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