Two Utah congressmen are proposing a bill that would see thousands of acres of indigenous lands turned into oil drilling zones. The legislation would set Native American land rights back over 100 years. The Utah Public Lands Initiative is a proposal that would turn 26 percent of the Ute Tribe’s land into oil and drilling zones. The bill, HR 5780, will be heading to the House of Representatives in a few weeks. If passed it would see 18 million acres of public lands in Eastern Utah downgraded from protected lands and turned into oil and gas drilling zones which will be exempt from environmental protection. RT reports: The US has not made a treaty with a Native American nation since the 1800s, but a proposal for Eastern Utah is bringing back feelings of mistrust from tribes. Republican Congressmen Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz, along with Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) have proposed The Public Lands Initiative that they claim “is a locally-driven process to bring resolution to some of the most challenging land disputes in the state of Utah.” Not everyone sees it that way, however. The proposal would remove federal protections from 18 million acres of land and could allow them [...]
The post Utah Congressmen Propose First Native American Land Grab In 100 Yrs appeared first on Your News Wire.