U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, center, speaks during a tour of the Indian Creek Area Thursday, July 14, 2016, near Monticello, ...
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AP
BLUFF, Utah
U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell is holding a public meeting in southeast Utah on Saturday to discuss conservation proposals that include a divisive proposal to create a new national monument at a sacred Native American site.
Jewell's meeting in the town of Bluff caps off a four day research trip to Utah as a coalition of tribes urges President Barack Obama to sweet 1.9 million acres around the twin Bears Ears buttes into a national monument.
The tribes and environmental groups say the area needs strong protections from threats of looting and damage from off-highway vehicles.
Opponents, mainly Republicans, argue that the monument proposal is overly broad and could close off access to the land.
The U.S. Interior Department says Jewell's visit doesn't mean a monument decision is imminent.
BLUFF, Utah
U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell is holding a public meeting in southeast Utah on Saturday to discuss conservation proposals that include a divisive proposal to create a new national monument at a sacred Native American site.
Jewell's meeting in the town of Bluff caps off a four day research trip to Utah as a coalition of tribes urges President Barack Obama to sweet 1.9 million acres around the twin Bears Ears buttes into a national monument.
The tribes and environmental groups say the area needs strong protections from threats of looting and damage from off-highway vehicles.
Opponents, mainly Republicans, argue that the monument proposal is overly broad and could close off access to the land.
The U.S. Interior Department says Jewell's visit doesn't mean a monument decision is imminent.
