The Senate confirmed New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland's appointment Monday as Interior secretary despite the objections of Utah senators Mike Lee and Mitt Romney.
Romney, Lee vote against Deb Haaland’s historic confirmation as green groups, energy interests weigh in
As first Native American in a presidential Cabinet, new Interior boss is expected to chart a new course favoring conservation over extraction. Bears Ears and Grand Staircase are top issues.
(Graeme Jennings/Pool via AP) Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., speaks during a Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources hearing on her nomination to be Interior secretary, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Senate voted Monday to confirm her in a 51-40 tally.
| March 16, 2021, 1:06 a.m.
Utah’s two senators voted against confirming Rep. Deb. Haaland, D-N.M., as secretary of Interior, citing her past support for what they and other Republican critics contend is a “radical” agenda aimed at heavy-handed federal oversight of public lands and their resources.
As Biden mulls reversing Trump’s monument cuts, researchers urge him to go big
Mar. 16, 2021 , 4:45 PM
When paleontologist Rob Gay returned to his research sites at the Bears Ears National Monument last month after a long absence, he wasn’t sure what he would find. Former President Donald Trump had shrunk the monument, created by former President Barack Obama, by 85% and weakened protections for sites holding fossils and cultural artifacts. Gay spotted new off-road vehicle tracks in the vermillion-hued soil. But thankfully, he says, his sites had not been damaged.
Gay is just one of many researchers and Native American officials urging President Joe Biden to reverse Trump’s downsizing of Bear Ears and even expand it. Doing so would not only restore stricter protections for numerous sites, but also free up federal funding for surveys, research, and preservation efforts. But although the Biden administration has hinted that it will reverse Trump’s order and the decision coul