Rob Bishop

Let's go to San Juan County, then. It has one national monument, one national forest, one national recreation center, three national monuments. Despite that, it is still the poorest county in the state of Utah.

What does the creation of a national monument on these lands do to people's lives and culture?

And to Ms. Tsongas, your statement that there were no private lands, that is inaccurate.

Bears Ears National Monument campaign is a cynical political stunt that, if successful, will deny grassroots Utah Navajos access to their sacred and spiritual grounds.

Never in my years of Congress have I seen such a concerted effort to suppress the voices of local tribes by powerful, deep-pocketed opponents.

Grassroots Utah Navajo people do not support this effort to convert our sacred lands into a Federal designation.

If you are going to do anything with the Antiquities Act, make sure that the state in which the monuments or the parks are going to be designated from, that they have a dialogue with their legislature, with the public, and with the…

The Grand Staircase Monument locked up over 11 billion tons of recoverable coal.

It is appalling that non-local voices have drowned out those who treasure this land the most.

We specifically disclaim the notion put forward by various environmental groups that their creation, the Dine Bikeyah, speaks for all local Navajos--they do not.

Utahns are proud of our public lands. We love their grandeur and beauty.

Indeed, the ESA has become a lawyer's dream.

That is a priority that I expect the full Natural Resources Committee, under Chairman Bishop's leadership, to explore later this Congress.

If you don't, tough. It still is a national asset.

Congress gave the President the authority to designate national monuments--on lands already belonging to the taxpayers--because the legislative process can grind to a halt and prevent special places from being protected in time.

The text of the Antiquities Act is clear: Congress explicitly authorized the President to designate 'objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States to be…

I have a great deal of respect for the mayor in New Bedford.

What does it say about the integrity of these advisory councils that we asked to actually give input, when it is totally ignored by administrations who make arbitrary decisions.

for the U.S. Government to do so is a terrible example and precedent for other countries to follow.

There should be places that are off limits to commercial fishing, just as there are places that are off limits to hunting, drilling, mining, driving, smoking, nude sunbathing and other activities that may have negative consequences for…

The fishing prohibitions in these unilateral monument declarations are not based on established, accepted science.

So, Mr. Hallman, if I could ask you, in your testimony, you seem almost as confused as I am as to why mid-water and surface fishing gear is prohibited without the discussion of what that alternative could mean in this particular area.

These closures around remote, uninhabited U.S. islands in the Pacific include traditional and productive U.S. fishing areas.

I should probably go first so I don't get worked up before I ask my questions.

ATA strongly supports the call Chairman Bishop and Congresswoman Amata Radewagen have made in their letter to the President.