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Congress can still avoid a Bears Ears National Monument, says Rep. Jason Chaffetz

Washington • Congress still has time to pass legislation to preserve parts of the Bears Ears region in southeastern Utah — and halt a national monument designation — before year's end, one of the sponsors said Wednesday.

"We're moving at a record pace for Congress," Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said as a House Natural Resources subcommittee took up the bill. "We'll be back in November and December, and there's lots of legislation that will move at that time."

The Public Lands Initiative (PLI), sponsored by Chaffetz and Rep. Rob Bishop, who heads the Natural Resources Committee, would preserve 4.