Utah Gov. Gary Herbert suggested in a letter to Zinke that Bears Ears be shrunk to one-tenth of its current 1.35 million acre size, scaling the southeastern Utah monument down to about 120,000 acres surrounding Mule and Arch canyons west of Blanding, according to maps and other documents prepared by the governor’s office and obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune through records requests.
Monday’s letter was co-signed by Sens. Tom Udall of New Mexico, Patty Murray of Washington, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Al Franken of Minnesota, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Jeff Merkley or Oregon, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Bernie Sanders of Vermont.