Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Republican Rob Bishop (R-Utah) sent a letter to Chairman Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) regarding a November 2018 OIG report detailing that DOI officials gave no preferential treatment to stakeholders when developing revised boundaries for Grand Staircase Escalante (GSENM) and Bears Ears national monuments.

“To conserve limited taxpayer resources and valuable legislative time on this matter, I recommend reviewing the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) ‘Report of Investigation – Alleged Preferential Treatment in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument Boundary Decision.’

 “The OIG concluded that DOI staff, ‘developed and followed a consistent process to review … national monuments whose boundaries were under consideration for modifications.’  Moreover, the OIG found no evidence that then-Secretary Zinke or any DOI officials gave ‘preferential treatment’ to specific stakeholders when developing the revised monument boundaries.”

Read the full letter HERE