Ideas. Stories. Community.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

KSJD Local Newscast - January 14, 2025

Ways To Subscribe

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an effort by the state of Utah to get the Bureau of Land Management to give up control of lands in that state. In August, Utah officials filed a complaint directly with the Supreme Court challenging whether the federal government can legally maintain control of some 18.5 million acres of what they called “unappropriated lands” overseen by the BLM. But on Monday the Supreme Court said in a one-line announcement that it would not hear the case. Environmental groups hailed the decision, while Utah officials said they are optimistic about how the incoming presidential administration will manage public lands.

Two polls released Tuesday show strong public support for some national monuments that may be in the crosshairs of the Trump administration. A representative survey of 500 registered voters across Utah in December found that 65 percent support keeping the current number and size of the state’s national monuments. President Trump downsized both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments during his first term. A separate poll of 500 registered voters in Arizona in December found that 81 percent support President Biden’s creation of the 1-million-acre Grand Canyon National Monument in 2023. Sixty-seven percent said they oppose rolling back federal land protections in the state. The Utah poll was conducted by the research firm New Bridge Strategy and has a margin of error of 4.38 percent. The Arizona poll was conducted by the opinion research firm GQR. Senior partner of GQR Anna Greenberg said in a Zoom press conference said the survey’s margin of error would be around 4 percent, which would not much affect the overwhelming margins of support found. Both polls were conducted for the Grand Canyon Trust.

Stay Connected
Gail Binkly is a career journalist who has worked for the Colorado Springs Gazette and Cortez Journal, and was the editor of the Four Corners Free Press, based in Cortez.