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Tom Wharton: Utah politicians would rather fight than manage public lands

Part of my frustration is the amount of misinformation and hyperbole put out by both sides.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) U.S. President Donald Trump is surrounded by Utah representatives at the Utah Capitol on Monday, Dec. 4, 2017, as he signs the presidential proclamation to shrink Bears Ears national monument.

As someone who has covered public lands issues for over 40 years and has spent days exploring what were Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments, this week’s reductions in the size of the monuments challenged me to try understand both sides.