Joe Biden will restore 3 national monuments cut by Donald Trump
October 8, 2021, 5:13 am

Joe Biden will restore 3 national monuments cut by Donald Trump

US-Bear ears-national-monument/Pixabay

The Daily Liberal reported according to Australian Associated Press, the White House says, President Joe Biden will restore the boundaries of three American nature reserves, known as national monuments, that were reduced in size by former President Donald Trump to allow commercial activity.

The restoration will protect more than 1.3 million hectares in Southern Utah known as the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, as well as the nearly 8000 sq km) Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New England.

Environmental groups and Native American tribes cheered the news, calling it a victory for conservation over development.

But it was a blow to East Coast fishing interests and Utah's Republican governor, who expressed frustration.

Trump had sought to allow ranching, drilling, mining and commercial fishing in the areas, which were established as monuments by two of his Democratic predecessors, former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

The reduction was part of Republican Trump's broader agenda to loosen regulations on industry, which critics have decried as coming at the expense of the environment and wildlife.

Biden, a Democrat, said when he took office that he would review Trump's decision to reduce the monuments' boundaries. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American US Cabinet secretary, this year recommended restoring the boundaries.

Under federal law, presidents have the authority to create or alter national monuments unilaterally, which makes their protection uncertain.

Trump cut the size of the two Utah monuments by 809,372 hectares in all at the request of the state's Republican leadership. On Thursday, Utah Governor Spencer Cox said he was disappointed by Biden's decision to expand the boundaries.

"These decisions clearly demonstrate the administration's unwillingness to collaborate with and listen to those most impacted by their decisions," Cox said, adding that the state would consider its legal options.

Bears Ears is home to thousands of cultural and archeological sites and is considered sacred to Native American tribes in the region, while Grand Staircase-Escalante holds significant geological sites, fossils and historical objects.

Protection of the marine monument means commercial fishing for red crab and American lobster will be phased out by September 2023, the White House said. Recreational fishing will be allowed.

"Prohibiting hard-working commercial fishermen from sustainably harvesting while allowing owners of luxury yachts to spear fish for the same species in the same location is hypocritical and calls into question this administration's commitment to working families over wealthy donors," Bob Vanasse, a spokesperson for seafood lobby group Saving Seafood, said in an emailed statement.

Source: dailyliberal

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.