University of Utah public land experts available to comment on Zinke proposal for national monuments 

Questions over the future of 27 national monuments, including the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah remain, as the public waits to learn more about a set of recommendations Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke sent to President Donald Trump today. These monuments are being watched closely by those who want to keep the lands protected, and others who would like to see the areas open to new development. If the President changes the borders of either monument to reopen protected lands to development — and every indication is that he will — a swift legal test for the 111-year-old statute authorizing national monument creation will almost certainly follow.  A pair of University of Utah researchers who’ve published extensively on public lands are available to discuss these issues.

 

John Ruple and Bob Keiter, professors at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, are available to comment on this developing news story and details related to the forthcoming announcement on the fate of national monuments.

  • John Ruple is an Associate professor of Law at the Wallace Stegner Center for Land Resources and the Environment and focuses on public lands law and policy. Office: 801-581-6545; cell: 801-230-3380; email: [email protected]
  • Bob Keiter is the Wallace Stegner Professor of Law and director of the Stegner Center for Land Resources and the Environment and is an expert on public lands policy and national parks. Office: 801-581-5035, cell: 801-712-0894; email: [email protected]h.edu