The following article by Darryl Fears and Dino Grandoni was posted on the Washington Post website August 16, 2018:
Giant land sale? 1,600 acres once part of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument may be sold under new plan
The Trump administration is proposing to dispose of federal land in Utah that was protected within the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument until its boundary was redrawn by the Interior Department earlier this year — despite Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s assurance last year that he would not sell public lands.
The proposal to possibly sell 1,600 acres came to light Wednesday when the Bureau of Land Management released a plan to manage two national monuments that were dramatically reduced by the administration, Grand Staircase and Bears Ears, which is also in Utah. That would appear to directly contradict what Zinke said at his Senate confirmation hearing: “I am absolutely against transfer or sale of public land.”
In a statement to The Washington Post on Thursday, Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift said “the secretary still opposes the sale or transfer of federal land.” Swift said the bureau is legally required to identify federal property suitable for disposal in its land-use planning.