Utah county seeks to restore size of national monument

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The San Juan County Commission has passed a resolution calling on President-elect Joe Biden to restore the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument in southeast Utah. Currently, the monument is about 200,000 acres and split into Shash Jaa and Indian Creek national monuments. President Barack Obama originally designated 1.35 million acres for the monument in 2016 but President Donald Trump significantly reduced the boundaries a year later. The commission voted 2-1 on the resolution that said Trump’s decision was illegal and asked Biden to make it a priority in his administration to restore the monument to its original size.