HJR97-1006 By Representative
Entz; also Senator Wattenberg--Concerning the Grand Staircase-Escalante
National Monument.
WHEREAS, On September 18, 1996, President Clinton
declared 1.7 million acres in Southern Utah as the Grand Staircase-Escalante
National Monument; and
WHEREAS, The President abused the purpose of the
ninetyyearold Antiquities Act, which allows him to
act without congressional approval, by significantly over-reaching
in the number of acres designated; and
WHEREAS, The President ignored repeated requests
to work through the legislative processes already in place under
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Federal Land
Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) to determine areas appropriate
for designation as wilderness and national areas and national
monuments; and
WHEREAS, The President ignored repeated requests
from Utah's leaders to negotiate a compromise; and
WHEREAS, The President failed to adequately consider
the social implications of national monument designation, including
the fact that 200,000 acres of Utah's school trust lands lie within
the designated areas and will be rendered useless, resulting in
a potential loss of billions of dollars for the education of Utah's
schoolchildren; and
WHEREAS, The President failed to consider the social
implications of substantial numbers of citizens being displaced
from their homes, places of employment, and way of life as a result
of the loss of economic development that will follow the designation;
and
WHEREAS, The President failed to adequately consider
the economic implications of national monument designation, including
the potential tax revenue loss to the federal and state governments
and the school trust fund of billions of dollars from mineral
and petroleum exploration and development and related jobs; and
WHEREAS, The President failed to adequately consider
the environmental implications of national monument designation,
such as that the 62 billion tons of coal deposits in the Kaiparowits
Coal Basin is an extremely efficient low-sulfur, clean-burning
coal and that given the vast reserves of clean-burning coal available,
it is not environmentally nor economically sound to continue to
"waste" clean-burning coal reserves; and
WHEREAS, To ignore large domestic deposits of our cleanestburning coal only increases our dependence on foreign energy sources and reduces our energy and national security; and
WHEREAS, The President failed to consider alternative
plans that would result in a more sound environmental protection
policy; and
WHEREAS, The declaration of nearly two million acres
as a national monument does nothing to preserve a wilderness area,
but rather, the area will likely become congested with roads and
tourist buses; and
WHEREAS, An alternative proposal would allow 350,000
acres to be designed as true "wilderness" areas to preserve
their natural beauty, while other areas could be designated as
a national monument, and still others reserved for mineral activity
and such proposal makes sense socially, economically, and environmentally;
and
WHEREAS, The creation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante
National Monument presents significant negative social, economic,
and environmental consequences for not only Utah's citizens but
all Americans; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives
of the Sixty-first General Assembly of the State of Colorado,
the Senate concurring herein:
That the state of Colorado supports policies that
balance the social, economic, and environmental needs of people
and communities with the needs of environmental preservation in
federal decisionmaking processes.
Be It Further Resolved, That
the state of Colorado urges the United States Congress to amend
the President's unilateral action to require negotiation with
the states and a stronger consideration of the social and economic
consequences, including takings, in whole or in part, in the designation
of national monuments and wilderness areas.
Be It Further Resolved,
That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President
of the United States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and to every member of
Colorado's state's congressional delegation.
Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources.