Utah District Court Opinion - Escalante Grand Staircase

Summary

In the United States District Court District of Utah-Central Division

Utah Association of Counties, on behalf of its members, Plaintiffs, vs. George W. Bush, in his official capacity as President of the United States, et al., Defendants., and Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, et al., Defendants-Intervenors. AND Mountain States Legal Foundation, on behalf of its members Plaintiffs, vs. George W. Bush, in his official capacity as President of the United States, et al., Defendants. and Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, et al., Defendants-Intervenors

Opinion and Order

Case No. 2:97CV0479 2:97CV0863

The present matter comes before the Court on defendants' Motion to Dismiss or in the alternative for summary Judgment and plaintiffs' Motions for Summary Judgment. The motions were argued before the Court on January 15, 2004. The Court has considered the legal briefs and oral arguments of the respective parties and enters the following Opinion and Order.On September 18, 1996, President William Jefferson Clinton, invoking his authority under the Antiquities Act, designated I. 7 million acres of federal land in southeastern Utah as the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. On June 23, 1997, the Utah Association of Counties, (UAC) filed this lawsuit challenging the President's actions, naming as defendants the United States of America, William J. Clinton in his official capacity as President of the United States, Kathleen McGinty in her official capacity as chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, the United States Department of the Interior (DOl), and Patrick Shea, Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). On November 5, 1997 Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF) filed a similar suit against defendants Clinton, Babbitt, and the United States of America. A month later, MSLF

filed an amended complaint, which added defendant McGinty. UAC's and MSLF's cases were consolidated.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Antiquities Act -- Its History and Use   •
• Antiquities Act - Congressional Reports, Legal Docs, Law Review Articles

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