US President Joe Biden plans to re-enlarge national parks that former President Donald Trump had reduced.
The White House said in a statement Thursday that Biden is fulfilling an important promise “that national parks, monuments and other protected areas must be protected forever and for all people.”
These are two vast national wilderness areas in Utah, ‘Bears Ears’ and ‘Grand Staircase-Escalante’, which Trump cut rigorously during his presidency. The first nature park, declared a protected area by Barack Obama in 2016, gave up 85 percent of its surface under Trump. Likewise, ‘Grand Staircase-Escalante’, a brainchild of Bill Clinton, was cut in half by Trump.
President Biden ensures that the natural areas are fully declared a protected area again. ‘Bears Ears’ will be even slightly larger than before and will cover an area of more than 5,500 square kilometres. ‘Grand Staircase-Escalante’ is being restored to 7,500 square kilometres.
An area in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New England will also be designated a marine protected area, and fishing for, for example, the red crab there will be banned.
Trump’s decision gave local governments more say in the areas and resources. Livestock, mining and commercial fishing were allowed, among other things. As soon as Biden took office as president, he said he would review Trump’s decision. On Thursday, Utah Republican Governor Spencer Cox said he was disappointed with Biden’s decision to increase the natural parks.