Land grab or fighting climate change? Illinois senator wants more Utah land as wilderness

t's a battle for other state's land in Congress, without the consent of their legislators, again.

On Monday, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) refiled the America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act which would designate 8.4 million acres of Utah land as wilderness, including some former land from the Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments.

However, none of the Utah congressional delegation signed on as co-sponsors.

Some, like Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Rep. John Curtis (R-UT) are retaliating.

On Thursday, they refiled the Shawnee Wilderness Area Designation Act of 2021, previously introduced by Romney and former Sen. Rob Bishop (R-UT), which would designate 289,000 acres of land in Illinois as wilderness.

Read more: https://www.thespectrum.com/story/news/2021/05/13/battle-other-states-land-congress-when-illinois-senator-wants-utah-land/5074770001/
(St. George The Spectrum)