A visit by a candidate.

With the primaries just a month away, I was visited at the front door by a politician for the first time.  A local candidate who has run once before.  He's been to the door before, and didn't recall it.

It's interesting in part because he doesn't remember me, pretty clearly, but I know him. He was in my high school graduating class and was one of those guys who was on the periphery of my circle of friends.  Indeed, he was one of those odd very nice people you know that aren't quite within anyone's circle of friends, but almost are, so they're like satellites, sort of.  Something that I recall about him from back then is that he was in amazingly good shape and was the only male gymnast I knew.  He still appears to be in amazingly good shape.

What I also recall about him is that he was one of the very few far right Evangelical Christians that I knew in those days.  Wyoming is the least religious state in the United States and Evangelicalism, as the time, was very rare.  In my actual circle of friends everyone was either Catholic, Mormon, or Mainline Protestant, but I'd also note that the Mainline Protestants were not very observant, if you will.  Or, more properly, they weren't very church going, with some exceptions, of course.

That was typical for Wyoming at the time.

Anyhow, I've had a belly full of the far right in this state and last time anyone campaign related showed up, young people paid, most likely, to distribute WFC propaganda, I gave one of them such a blistering that I could tell he was scared.

He deserved it, punk.

Anyhow, I was nice this time.  Can't be harsh to an old classmate.

On the change here, at this point my old classmate has more company, really  One of the things about the the last large oil boom is it brought in a flood of people. Usually, in the past, when oil booms ended those people went home, which was often home to Texas and Oklahoma. This time lots of them didn't, for a variety of reasons I suspect.  One is that the landing of the economic crash was softer.  Another was that winters have been much warmer.  Winter used to drive a lot of people flat out away.

Anyhow, many of these people were Bible Belt protestants and they often appear not to realize that they're a tiny minority of the world's Christians.  Indeed, not only are they are minority, but they often hold views that in early eras of Christianity would have been regarded as heretical.  Heretics, we might note, were often extremely aggressive about spreading heresy, and often these folks are pretty aggressive about their views, which of course is their right.

One such example shows up in an editorial by Campbell County legislator John Bear.  Bear is a member of the WFC and a member of a tiny Evangelical denomination.  He's a carpetbagger from Missouri.  He wrote an editorial to the Cowboy State Daily complaining that on the county's 4th of July parade his organization, whatever that was, had been precluded from handing out copies of the Constitution and the Bible.  People from up there, in seeing his post, wrote back that 1) the parade was dedicated to the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution or Christianity, 2) that they in fact did pass out New Testaments and copies of the Constitution.

I don't know what actually happened but I'll admit that if I'd been there and somebody handed me out copies of either, and of course I am an Christian, I'd be uneasy.  Partially I'd be uneasy as this group of people have a low regard for the real Constitution and have a view of Christianity that is minoritarian and aggressive.  Their Bibles, additionally, omit part of the Canon of the Bible, and they tend not to even know that.

I also am cautious here as frankly this group gives Christianity a bad name, in my view.  One of their members, since voted out of office, but trying to get back in, asserted during a legislative session that we are not our brother's keeper.  A pastor associated with the movement was one of the primary opponents of the bill to raise the marriage age to something rational, and you couldn't help but feel really uneasy about that.  There's nothing in Christianity that says it's nifty for girls younger than 16 years of age to get married.

On that, I've recently been amused by some editorials, and I'll be vague on them, by the same protestant pastor heaping praise on somebody he probably doesn't know lost his family due to screwing his secretary and then trying to claim that his children understood in a public setting they were at.

They didn't.

Anyhow, the changing religious landscape here has had an impact on politics, and not in a good way, even if I'm glad that people are attending some church.

One regional politician who I'm sure attends not a church, but a stake center, is Deseret Mike Lee.  Lee is a radical right wing populist.  He posts constantly about the SAVE act and stuff like that, but I really wonder how much people really know about him.

John D. Lee.

Lee is a direct descendant of John D. Lee, one of the key figures of the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857.  Mike Lee even bears a pretty close resemblance to his ancestor facially.

John D. Lee was a Mormon zealot in the LDS's early days.  He was also a central figure in the early LDS of that day.  He was not just some LDS immigrant to Utah.  We've discussed Mountain Meadows elsewhere, but it was a flat out murderous slaughter in the name of religion of a type that you very rarely actually see.  People often claim that occurs, but reality, it's phenomenally rare.  Here's an actual example.

Lee was eventually charged with murder in 1874.  He was executed at Mountain Meadows for his crimes in 1877.  The LDS have always maintained that they were not responsible for the murders in an organized way.  I.e., they've always maintained that the church didn't sanction or commend the killings to occur.  They may very well not have, and given the factors of time and distance of the 19th Century, they likely did not.  Still, it took two decades for the cries of the murdered to be addressed and there's always been some lingering suspicion that Lee was a scapegoat.  That's more or less the view taken by the Netflix series American Primeval, which while a historical drama doesn't pretend to be strict history.  Brigham Young is portrayed as a really bad guy in it.

John D. Lee nineteen wives and fifty six children, which is flat out absurd. Eleven of Lee's wives left him during the course of their marriages.

One of those fifty six children was John Doyle Lee, born in 1851, before Mountain Meadows.  His mother was Lovina Lee who had married John D. in 1847.  That same year, John D. married Mary Lee, her sister.  Both Lovina and Mary are buried in a the same plot in Arizona, where the John D. family ultimately located.

John Doyle Lee was one of eleven children by two wives. His first wife died at age 31.  He was an Arizona rancher.  One of those children was Rex Lee, who died in 1934 in a hunting accident, leaving his second wife (his first had died) pregnant.  She would name their son Rex Lee.  She would remarry and have three more children.

Rex Lee, the younger, became a prominent Republican politician, lawyer and BYU academic.  He served as United States Solicitor under Ronald Reagan.  Mike Lee, his son, has sort of followed his path in that he's also an academic, lawyer and Republican politician.

Mike Lee, while it's been nearly 150 years since his great, great grandfather's death, appears to have acquired not only his facial appearance, but a certain type of zealotry.

It's hard to say this without instantly being accused of being bigoted.  The truth is, however, that the LDS are a much more diverse religion than people think they are.  Many Mormon "beliefs" aren't canon at all, and are more in the nature of theological opinions.  It's not really the case, for instance, that all Mormons are polytheists.  Even regular common practices, like abstaining from caffeinated beverages, aren't really church law.As a result, you can have fairly devout Mormons who don't hold those views.  You can also have those who very strictly hold the traditional views.  The deeper you go into the Jello Belt the more common the really traditional views, save for Salt Lake City, ironically, which has a majority non Mormon population.

I don't know Mike Lee personally, but there's every sign that he holds the very traditional views, one of which is that there's a finite number of souls that were created at the bigging of the creation of our world, and that the sooner they all get on the Earth, the second coming will arrive.  

Now, Mike Lee has only three children, so that cuts against this argument somewhat.  But he also is a pro development zealot that is sort of explained by this.  Lee would rape every square inch of the West if allowed to.  Houses, mines, whatever, you name it, he's for it.

And he holds sort of a pan West view of this, which fits into his heritage.  Originally the LDS hoped for their own state, the State of Deseret, which would have included a much greater expanse of the West than Utah.

Lee had a fit recently went the Pentagon didn't include the LDS as a Christian religion, which it isn't, in the list of Christian religions.  It was pretty clear that Lee felt betrayed, which he wasn't.  The Pentagon went back and fibbed for him, the GOP rewarding him for his loyalty, but changing that.

The views Lee holds about public lands and the West aren't really limited to the LDS by any means, we should note.  James Watt, Reagan's Secretary of the Interior, believed that the Second Coming was going to come extremely soon so there should be no holding back on using every resource immediately.  No need to conserve anything.

We're still here, of course, and Watt is dead.

Watt received a fair amount of portrayal as a weirdo.  That must have pained other Evangelicals who didn't hold his views and I suspect there's a fair number of LDS who feel the same way about Lee.  Likewise, there's probably a fair number of Christians up in Campbell County who feel that John Bear doesn't speak for them.

Indeed, this raises the interesting point of outliers defining a group to outsiders.  Mitt Romney is probably more representative of the views of most Mormons than Mike Lee, but most Americans don't know anything about the LDS and by 2028 Mike Lee is going to seem like the definition of a Mormon to many people.

I get stuff like this in regard to being a Catholic, often by people who really hate Catholics.  "You must be one of ten children".  Nope, I'm of one.  Just yesterday a colleague I've worked with for nearly 40 years, and who has asked me about grade school before, was in a conversation with another colleague who is moving their children out of the local Catholic school. She and her husband are not Catholic.  My old colleague turned to me and said "you went to St. A's" 

No, I didn't.  Neither did any of my numerous Catholic cousins.  I'm a practicing Catholics and, therefore, I guess it must be the case that I went to Catholic school. 

A minor example.

I'm not going to vote for my old colleague.  He doesn't appear to fit into the WFC, but I can't really tell what he's for.  He's for jobs, which everyone says.  

And I like our serving representative, who is definitely not a WFC member.

The candidate visiting got me to thinking about another person who sort of was in the orbit of my circle of friends back in those days.  She was a quiet and mousy friend of the sister of one of my friends.  I had a crush on the sister.  Later she reappeared in the orbit in law school, as she was the friend of a girl I was dating and just somebody in the class behind me.  I got to know here somewhat better then.  The very definition of a preppy, people in her circle called her "muffy" as sort of derogative nickname.

After law school she came back to Casper and practiced here for awhile. Something happened, I don't  know what, and she not only left the practice of law, but actually took the extraordinary step of contacting the bar and having her name removed from the list of those barred.  I.e., she not only was a practicing lawyer who wanted on the inactive list, she wanted off the list entirely.  She's the only person I've ever know to do that.

After she left, she went back to Kansas where she'd graduated as an undergrad and worked in basically a clerical job.  I lost track of her, but looked her up sometime last year. Too late, she'd died of cancer at age 58.  She'd never married.  Her obituary states she  "will be remembered for her commitment to 4-H and her love of rabbits."  I actually hadn't known she was in 4-H, or that she loved rabbits.

Going Feral: Donny gets land rapey

Going Feral: Donny gets land rapey: MODIFYING THE GRAND STAIRCASE-ESCALANTE NATIONAL MONUMENT Proclamations July 13, 2026 BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PRO...

Donny gets land rapey

MODIFYING THE GRAND STAIRCASE-ESCALANTE NATIONAL MONUMENT

Proclamations

July 13, 2026

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

On September 18, 1996, as part of an effort to prevent development of significant coal reserves and other resources on the Kaiparowits Plateau, President Clinton issued Proclamation 6920, which established the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (Monument) in the State of Utah, reserving approximately 1.7 million acres of Federal lands as part of the Monument, and directing that it be managed by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

On December 4, 2017, exercising my authority under section 320301 of title 54, United States Code (the “Antiquities Act”), I issued Proclamation 9682 to modify the boundaries of the Monument, ensure proper management, and more closely reflect the intent of the Antiquities Act.  Proclamation 9682 removed approximately 860,000 acres from the Monument.  On October 8, 2021, President Biden issued Proclamation 10286, increasing the size of the Monument to approximately 1.87 million acres, the size of the Monument immediately prior to the issuance of Proclamation 9682.

The Antiquities Act authorizes the President to declare historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated on land owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be national monuments.  The Antiquities Act further requires that any parcel of land reserved as part of a monument be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.  Where the President determines that the structures and objects identified by a prior monument proclamation no longer are, or never were, deserving of the Antiquities Act’s protections, the Antiquities Act permits the President to remove land from the monument and return it to its prior federally managed status.  Determining the appropriate protective area involves examining several factors, including the uniqueness and nature of the objects to be protected, the nature of the protection needed, the protection provided to those objects by other laws, executive department and agency resources available to manage the parcel, and whether the lands are better suited for other non-monument uses.

Proclamation 10286 suffers from several flaws that warrant its reconsideration.  First, Proclamation 10286 was premised on the purported need to protect items that are not historic landmarks, historic or prehistoric structures, or objects of historic or scientific interest.  This included a long list of generic topographic and geologic features such as “vast and austere landscape[s],” “sedimentary rock layers,” and “bold plateaus and multihued cliffs.”  These generic features described in Proclamation 10286 do not become “landmarks,” “structures,” or “objects of historic or scientific interest” worthy of protection under the Antiquities Act simply because they are scenic.

Second, certain landmarks, structures, or objects identified in Proclamation 10286 that could, in other circumstances, have the necessary historic or scientific interest, are not unique to the Monument, and their relative commonness suggests that the specific instances of such objects found within the Monument are not of particular historic or scientific interest.  Examples of these relatively common objects include cultural, paleontological, and geological resources within the Monument that are found throughout the Four Corners region and, in some cases, throughout the American West.  Accordingly, a monument reservation was neither necessary nor appropriate to protect items that are not historic landmarks, historic or prehistoric structures, or other objects of historic or scientific interest or items that may qualify as such but are sufficiently common to not warrant protection under the Antiquities Act.

Third, because Proclamation 10286 expanded the land reserved for the Monument only to protect objects of no significant historic or scientific interest, that Proclamation disregarded the Antiquities Act’s requirement that the reservation of Federal lands for a national monument be confined to the “smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.”  Had the reservation been properly tailored to protect only those objects warranting protection under the Antiquities Act, it would have been much smaller.

Finally, the added reservation of land was unnecessary to protect many of the objects of historic or scientific identified by Proclamation 10286, which are already subject to the enhanced protections provided under Federal laws enacted after the Antiquities Act that preserve archaeological, historic, cultural, paleontological resources as well as plants and animals, and their respective habitats.  These laws, including the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (16 U.S.C. 470aa–470mm), National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 300101 et seq.), Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 668–668d), Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), Federal Cave Resources Protection Act of 1988 (16 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.), Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703–712), Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1976 (25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.), and Paleontological Resources Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470aaa–470aaa–11), authorize the BLM to limit and condition activities on Federal lands for the protection of certain natural and cultural resources, whether they are within or outside a national monument.

For instance, the BLM manages more than 800,000 acres of the Monument as Wilderness Study Areas, which the BLM is required by law to manage so as not to impair their suitability for future congressional designation as Wilderness.  As a result, many of the objects previously designated as monuments by Proclamation 10286 are already adequately protected by Federal law and do not require a reservation of land under the Antiquities Act for protection.

The Monument reservation established by Proclamation 10286 is, therefore, not confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of those objects worthy of the Antiquity Act’s protection.  Proper care and management can instead be provided to those objects of historic and scientific interest by a smaller and more appropriate reservation of approximately 181,541 acres comprising two units:  the Canyons of the Escalante Unit and Kaiparowits Horizon Unit.  Revising the boundaries of the Monument in this way will ensure that, in accordance with the Antiquities Act, the reservation is the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.  Revising the Monument’s boundaries to encompass approximately 181,541 acres will also account for practical limitations on the BLM’s land management resources and funding, ensuring that these remain adequate to provide proper care and management for the Monument now and in the future.  

Revising the boundaries will better align the use of these public lands with the public interest.  The Grand Staircase-Escalante region contains several resources that are vital to our economic and national security.  These resources include several critical minerals, such as chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, silver, thorium, titanium, uranium, vanadium, zinc, and zirconium, create jobs, fuel prosperity, and are essential to important sectors of the economy of the United States, including defense, manufacturing, and transportation.  It is imperative that the United States not be dependent on foreign sources of these resources.  Modifying the Monument’s boundaries will help ensure that adequate domestic supplies exist, thereby reducing the threat posed by our Nation’s reliance on foreign sources.

The approximately 172,641-acre Canyons of the Escalante Unit contains the heart of the lands that remain within the Monument.  Carved by the Escalante River and its tributaries, this area contains objects of historic or scientific interest worthy of protection, including the 130-foot-tall Escalante Natural Bridge.  This area also boasts Calf Creek Canyon, a canyon of red alcoved walls with expanses of white slickrock, and other canyons along the Escalante River that contain a high density of Fremont prehistoric sites, including pithouses, villages, and storage cysts, as well as petroglyphs and pictographs, such as the Hundred Hands pictograph panel.  The canyon of the Escalante River and its tributary canyons contain one of the highest densities of rock art sites in southwestern Utah outside of Capitol Reef National Park, with sites dating from the Archaic to the Historic periods.  There are also historic sites of interest in the area related to grazing and ranching, along with the Boulder Mail Trail, which was used to ferry mail between the small desert outpost towns of Escalante and Boulder beginning in 1902.

Objects of historic and scientific interest can also be found in the approximately 8,900-acre Kaiparowits Horizon Unit.  A recently discovered bonebed assemblage has produced rare specimens of theropods, including one of the most complete tyrannosaurid specimens in the region and well-preserved remains of hadrosaurs, turtles, and crocodilians.  The site has provided critical insights into the ancient ecosystems of the Western Interior Seaway and the rich diversity of dinosaurs, reptiles, and other vertebrates and is considered a globally important paleontological resource.  Accordingly, the establishment of the Kaiparowits Horizon Unit serves not only to properly care for and manage this uniquely intact snapshot of ancient biodiversity and environmental conditions, but also to foster continued research, education, and stewardship of a singular resource for the benefit of future generations.

Accordingly, the area described above and on the accompanying map are the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of those objects identified above, which I have determined in my discretion warrant protection under the Antiquities Act.  This modification of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument will maintain and protect those objects and preserve the area’s cultural, scientific, and historic legacy.

WHEREAS, section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, authorizes the President, in his discretion, to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be national monuments, and to reserve as a part thereof parcels of land; and

WHEREAS, the Antiquities Act permits the President, in the President’s discretion, to alter a prior declaration of a national monument, including by finding that objects identified in the prior declaration either are no longer deserving of the Antiquities Act’s protections, or never were; and

WHEREAS, many of the items and resources identified by Proclamation 10286 are not historic landmarks, historic structures, or otherwise objects of historic or scientific interest of national importance and, therefore, should not have been declared to be national monuments under the Antiquities Act; and

WHEREAS, many of the resources and objects designated as monuments by Proclamation 10286 do not require a reservation of land to protect them because they are not unique to those areas, were not under threat of damage or destruction before designation, or are sufficiently protected by Federal law; and

WHEREAS, the reservation of land established by Proclamation 10286 was not “the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected;” and

WHEREAS, given the greater budgetary and resource constraints of the BLM than in 2017, the boundaries established by Proclamations 9682 and 10286 encompass areas too vast for the proper care and management of the objects located therein; and

WHEREAS, our Nation’s need to reduce its reliance on foreign sources of several resources vital to our economic and national security, including resources located within the Monument, is greater than it was in 2017, thereby necessitating the exclusion of lands that were retained within the Monument by Proclamation 9682; and

WHEREAS, it is in the public interest to modify the boundaries of the Monument boundary to exclude approximately 1.69 million acres of land that I find are unnecessary for or disadvantageous to the proper care and management of the objects to be protected within the Monument; and

WHEREAS, I find that the boundaries of the Monument as described above and on the accompanying map represent the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects of historic and scientific interest identified above;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, hereby proclaim that the boundaries of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument are hereby modified to include those lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government within the boundaries described on the accompanying map, which is attached to and forms a part of this proclamation.  I hereby further proclaim that the modified Monument areas identified on the accompanying map shall be known as the Canyons and Escalante Unit and the Kaiparowits Horizon Unit.  These reserved Federal lands encompass approximately 181,541 acres.  The boundaries described on the accompanying map are confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.  Any lands reserved by Proclamations 6920, 9682, or 10286 not within the boundaries identified on the accompanying map are hereby excluded from the Monument.

At 9:00 a.m., eastern daylight time, on the date that is 60 days after the date of this proclamation, subject to valid existing rights, the provisions of existing withdrawals, and the requirements of applicable law, the public lands excluded from the Monument reservation shall be open to:

(1)  entry, location, selection, sale, or other disposition under the public land laws;

(2)  disposition under all laws relating to mineral and geothermal leasing; and

(3)  location, entry, and patent under the mining laws.

Appropriation of lands under the mining laws before the date and time of restoration is unauthorized.  Any such attempted appropriation, including attempted adverse possession under 30 U.S.C. 38, shall vest no rights against the United States.  Acts required to establish a location and to initiate a right of possession are governed by State law, where not in conflict with Federal law.

Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to revoke, modify, or affect any withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation, other than those set forth in Proclamations 6920, 9862 and 10286.

Nothing in this proclamation shall change the management of the areas designated and reserved by Proclamations 6920, 9682, and 10286 that remain part of the Monument in accordance with the terms of this proclamation, except as provided by the following nine paragraphs:

For purposes of providing for the proper care and management of the objects identified above and to facilitate multiple uses that are consistent with the care and management of those objects, the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) shall maintain a management plan for the Monument and shall promulgate such regulations for its management as he deems appropriate.  The Secretary, through the BLM, shall consult with other Federal land management agencies or agency components in the local area, including the National Park Service, when developing any management plan.  The Secretary shall provide for public involvement in the development of the management plan, including consultation with federally recognized Tribes and State and local governments.  In developing and implementing any management plan, the Secretary shall provide opportunities, pursuant to applicable legal authorities, for shared resources, operational efficiency, and cooperation with other Federal land management agencies, State and local governments, and federally recognized Tribes.  When preparing a management plan for the Monument, the Secretary shall take into account, to the maximum extent consistent with the proper care and management of the objects identified above, the importance of (1) providing appropriate access for and otherwise facilitating livestock grazing; (2) maintaining; and (3) improving public access, including for recreation and hunting; and providing educational experiences that reflect the diversity of the Monument’s natural and anthropogenic features and their use throughout the region’s history.

Nothing in this proclamation affects the designation, maintenance, and improvement of existing roads and trails within the Monument, which shall continue to be governed by laws and regulations other than this proclamation.  The Secretary shall prepare a new transportation plan that endeavors to maximize public access in the Monument through the designation of roads and trails on which motorized and non-motorized vehicle use will be allowed as well as provide for appropriate maintenance of those roads and trails.  Pending completion of that transportation plan, the Secretary may allow motorized and non‑motorized vehicle use on roads and trails designated for use before the issuance of Proclamation 6920 and shall maintain roads and trails for such use.

The Secretary shall consider the effects of proposed activities, including potential road closures, on historic roads in the Monument, in accordance with the regulations at 36 C.F.R. part 800, as appropriate.

Consistent with the proper care and management of the objects identified above, the Secretary may authorize ecological restoration and active vegetation management activities in the Monument.  When engaging in management planning for the Monument, the Secretary shall consider the full range of vegetation management tools, including mechanical mastication, grazing, and new vegetation management technology that becomes available in the future.  Additionally, because noxious weeds and invasive plant species increase wildfire risks, the Secretary may authorize the use of available mechanical, natural, and chemical tools for controlling the proliferation of noxious weed and invasive plant species, and all treatment plans should be developed and implemented in coordination with the Garfield and Kane Counties Weed Boards.  Livestock grazing should be utilized as a primary option for mitigating noxious weeds, as well as managing fuels and vegetation.

In recognition of the enduring tradition of livestock grazing in the Monument and its historical and cultural significance to local communities, nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to affect authorizations for livestock grazing, or administration thereof, on Federal lands within the Monument.  Livestock grazing within the Monument shall continue to be governed by the laws and regulations other than this Proclamation.

The Secretary shall endeavor to authorize traditional land uses within the Monument, such as grazing, recreation, timber management, public access, and infrastructure development, to the greatest extent possible, consistent with applicable law.  Where restrictions on proposed uses are necessary to comply with applicable laws, such restrictions shall be narrowly tailored.

The Secretary shall consider livestock grazing lands in the Monument to constitute a traditional cultural place (TCP) and shall consider how proposed activities will impact that TCP in accordance with the regulation at 36 C.F.R. part 800, as appropriate.

If any livestock grazing permits or leases within the Monument are voluntarily relinquished by existing holders, the Secretary shall, within 1 year, re-allocate the relinquished forage, including by issuing a new permit or lease for the relevant allotment, as appropriate, unless the Secretary specifically finds that such reallocation is inconsistent with the proper care and management of the objects identified above.

If any provision of this proclamation, including its application to a particular parcel of land, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this proclamation shall not be affected thereby.  Furthermore, to the extent that any provision of Proclamations 6920, 9682, or 10286 is inconsistent with or contradicts this proclamation, the terms of this proclamation shall govern.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifty-first.

                             DONALD J. TRUMP

 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

On December 28, 2016, President Obama issued Proclamation 9558, which established the Bears Ears National Monument (Monument) in the State of Utah; reserved approximately 1.35 million acres of Federal land as part of the Monument; and directed that the Monument be jointly managed by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Department of Agriculture’s United States Forest Service (USFS). 

On December 4, 2017, exercising my authority under section 320301 of title 54, United States Code (the “Antiquities Act”), I issued Proclamation 9681 to modify the boundaries of the Monument in accordance with the requirements of that Act, as well as to ensure the Monument’s proper management.  Proclamation 9681 excluded approximately 1.15 million acres from the Monument, and also reserved approximately 11,200 acres as part of the Monument that were not originally reserved by Proclamation 9558.  On October 8, 2021, President Biden issued Proclamation 10285 to modify the boundaries of the Monument to include all lands previously excluded, expanding the Monument to encompass approximately 1.36 million acres.

The Antiquities Act authorizes the President to declare historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated on land owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be national monuments.  The Antiquities Act further requires that any parcel of land reserved as part of a monument be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.  Where the President determines that the structures and objects identified by a prior monument proclamation no longer are, or never were, deserving of the Antiquities Act’s protections, the Antiquities Act permits the President to remove land from the monument and return it to its prior federally managed status.  Determining the appropriate protective area involves examining several factors, including the uniqueness and nature of the objects to be protected, the nature of the protection needed, the protection provided those objects by other laws, executive department and agency resources available to manage the parcel, and whether the lands are better suited for other non-monument uses.

Given these considerations, the monument designation made in Proclamation 10285 suffers from several flaws under Antiquities Act analysis that require the action taken by this proclamation.  First, Proclamation 10285’s designation rests on the purported need to protect items that are not historic landmarks, historic or prehistoric structures, or other objects of historic or scientific interest.  For example, Proclamation 10285 protects various generic features and landscapes found within the Bears Ears region, such as “deep sandstone canyons, broad desert mesas, towering monoliths, forested mountaintops dotted with lush meadows” and “low bluffs and high mesas.”  While scenic, these generic features are not “landmarks,” “structures,” or “objects of historical or scientific interest” worthy of protection under the Antiquities Act.

Second, certain landmarks, structures, or objects identified in Proclamation 10285 that could have the necessary historic or scientific interest in other contexts are prevalent throughout the Four Corners region and, in some cases, throughout the American West.  The relative commonness of these cultural resources within the broader area suggests that the specific instances of such objects found within the Monument are not of particular historic or scientific interest.  For instance, lithic scatters, projectile points, prehistoric campsites, petroglyphs, and pictographs are found across the American West and are not unique to the Bears Ears region.  Accordingly, a monument reservation was neither necessary nor appropriate to protect these items.

Third, because Proclamation 10285 reserved lands that were intended to protect several landmarks, structures, or objects that lack the necessary historic or scientific interest, it also disregards the Antiquities Act’s requirement that the reservation of Federal lands for a national monument be confined to the “smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.”  If the parcel had been properly tailored to protect only those objects identified in Proclamation 10285 that do warrant protection under the Antiquities Act, it would have been much smaller.

Finally, a monument designation and reservation of land were unnecessary to protect many of the objects of historic and scientific interest identified by Proclamation 10285, which are already subject to enhanced protections under Federal laws enacted after the Antiquities Act that preserve archaeological, historic, cultural and paleontological resources, as well as plants and animals and their respective habitats.  These laws, including the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (16 U.S.C. 470aa–470mm), National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 300101 et seq.), Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 668–668d), Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), Federal Cave Resources Protection Act of 1988 (16 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.), Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), National Forest Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.),Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703–712), Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1976 (25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.), and Paleontological Resources Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470aaa–470aaa–11), authorize the BLM or the USFS to limit and condition activities on Federal lands for the protection of certain natural or cultural resources, whether they are within or outside a national monument.  

For instance, more than 500,000 acres of the Monument were already being managed to maintain, enhance, or protect their roadless character before they were designated as part of a national monument.  Specifically, the BLM manages approximately 380,759 acres of lands within the existing monument as Wilderness Study Areas, which the BLM is required by law to manage so as not to impair their suitability for future congressional designation as Wilderness.  On lands managed by the USFS, 46,348 acres are part of the congressionally designated Dark Canyon Wilderness Area, which, under the 1964 Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131-1136), and the Utah Wilderness Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-428), the USFS must manage so as to maintain or enhance its wilderness character.  As a result, many of the objects previously designated as monuments by Proclamation 10285 are already adequately protected by Federal law and do not require a reservation of land under the Antiquities Act for protection.   

In light of these flaws, I have determined, in my discretion, that the parcel of land reserved by Proclamation 10285 is not confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects of scientific or historic interest identified therein.  Instead, proper care and management can be provided to those objects by a smaller reservation of approximately 121,096 acres comprising two units:  the Shash Jáa Unit and the Indian Creek Unit.  Revising the boundaries of the Monument in this way will ensure that, in accordance with the Antiquities Act, the reservation is the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.  Revising the Monument’s boundaries to encompass approximately 121,096 acres will also account for practical limitations on the BLM’s and the USFS’s land management resources and funding, ensuring that these remain adequate to provide proper care and management for the protected objects now and in the future.

Revising the boundaries of the Monument will also unburden public National Forest System lands that can and should be put to a higher-priority use.  The Bears Ears region contains several resources that are vital to energy and resource independence and, in turn, critical to national security.  These resources — which include critical minerals such as silver, copper, molybdenum, lead, uranium, vanadium, and zinc — create jobs, fuel prosperity, and are essential to important sectors of the economy of the United States, including defense, manufacturing, and transportation.  It is imperative that the United States not rely on foreign sources for these resources.  Modifying the Monument’s boundaries will help ensure that adequate domestic supplies exist, thereby reducing the threat posed by our Nation’s reliance on foreign sources.

The approximately 106,816-acre Shash Jáa Unit is the heart of the Monument.  These lands encompass a collection of objects of historic and scientific interest that represent the Bears Ears region’s natural and cultural heritage.  For example, the Shash Jáa Unit contains notable geologic features, including the iconic twin buttes known as the Bears Ears, which are considered sacred by the Native American tribes that call this area their ancestral home and which were a prominent landmark for both ancient peoples and the more recent inhabitants of the region.  The Shash Jáa Unit also holds Arch Canyon, Mule Canyon, and Comb Ridge — a north-south trending monocline that resembles a rooster’s comb.  

The Shash Jáa Unit contains an abundance of cultural and archaeological objects spanning thousands of years of human history, such as dispersed villages, pit houses, kivas, storage pits, storage rooms, pottery, lithic scatters, campsites, rock shelters, pictographs, and baskets, as well as manos and metates for grinding corn.  These objects also include large villages from the Pueblo I period, cliff dwellings from the Pueblo III period, and expansive and complex multi-family dwellings from the Pueblo II period near Comb Wash; the Arch Canyon ruin, which contains pictographs and petroglyphs ranging from the Archaic to the historic period; shelter-cliff dwellings from the Pueblo II and III periods in the north and south forks of Mule Canyon, as well as other archaeological sites there, including the House on Fire Ruin; alcoves near Whiskers Draw containing evidence of human habitation from the Basketmaker period; portions of the Butler Wash Archeological District, an Ancestral Puebloan ruin with multiple rooms and kivas that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; the Butler Wash Kachina Panel, a wall-sized mural of San Juan Anthropomorph figures; and Milk Ranch Point, which is home to a rich concentration of kivas, granaries, and dwellings.

The Shash Jáa Unit also contains important paleontological objects, including Triassic vertebrate trace fossils near Comb Ridge.  Additionally, the Shash Jáa Unit contains several historic sites that shed light on the Bears Ears region’s more modern cultural heritage.  For example, the unit contains objects related to the cowboys, trappers, and explorers that moved into the region in the mid-1800s, as well as objects related to settlers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter‑day Saints (Latter Day Saints).  This last group of objects includes prominent features of the Hole-in-the-Rock Road, such as Salvation Knoll, and San Juan Hill, which served as navigation points for Latter Day Saints traveling into southeastern Utah.  

Finally, the Shash Jáa Unit described on the accompanying map includes five non-contiguous parcels of land encompassing significant historic and prehistoric structures and objects of historic and scientific interest, including:

1)  a 157-acre parcel reserved for Doll House Ruin, a fully-intact and well-preserved single-room granary, as well as for other prehistoric structures and objects in a tributary of Woodenshoe Canyon;

2)  a 314-acre parcel reserved for Scorup Cabin, a line cabin originally built in Rig Canyon and later moved to its current location, used by early cowboys as a summer camp while tending cattle in the area;

3)  a 693-acre parcel reserved for the Rig Canyon Mining Exploration Site, which supported a vertical oil well, drilled in 1926, in a wildcat oil field;  

4)  a 318-acre parcel reserved for the Moon House complex, an example of Pueblo-decorated architecture that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is likely the last human occupied site on Cedar Mesa; and

5)  an 88-acre parcel reserved for the Citadel, an Ancestral Puebloan site featuring several masonry rooms and a series of deteriorating features on Cedar Mesa.

The approximately 14,279-acre Indian Creek Unit also contains objects of historic and scientific interest that are representative of the region’s natural and cultural heritage, such as dinosaur tracks and distinctive and well-preserved petroglyphs in Shay Canyon; Newspaper Rock, a roadside rock art panel that has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976; and notable paleontological resources, including abundant fossilized flora and fauna. 

Accordingly, the area described above and on the accompanying map is the smallest compatible with the proper care and management of the objects of historic and scientific interest identified above, which I have determined in my discretion warrant protection under the Antiquities Act.  This modification of the Monument will maintain and protect those objects and preserve the area’s cultural, scientific, and historic legacy.

WHEREAS, section 320301 of title 54, United States Code authorizes the President, in the President’s discretion, to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be national monuments, and to reserve as a part thereof parcels of land; and

WHEREAS, the Antiquities Act also permits the President, in the President’s discretion, to alter a prior declaration of a national monument by finding that objects identified in the prior declaration either are no longer deserving of the Antiquities Act’s protections, or never were; and

WHEREAS, many of the resources and objects identified by Proclamation 10285 are not historic landmarks, historic structures, or other objects of historic or scientific interest and, therefore, should not have been declared to be national monuments under the Antiquities Act; and 

WHEREAS, many of the resources and objects designated as monuments by Proclamation 10285 do not require a reservation of land to protect them because they are not unique to those areas, were not under threat of damage or destruction before designation, or are sufficiently protected by Federal law; and

WHEREAS, the reservation of land established by Proclamation 10285 is not “the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected”; and

WHEREAS, given the budgetary and resource constraints of the BLM and the USFS, which have only intensified since 2017, the boundaries established by Proclamations 9681 and 10285 encompass lands too vast to ensure the proper care and management of all of the protected objects located therein; and

WHEREAS, the need to reduce our Nation’s reliance on foreign sources of several resources vital to our economic and national security, including resources located within the historic and current boundaries of the Monument, is also greater than it was in 2017, thereby further necessitating the exclusion of lands that were retained within the Monument by Proclamation 9681; and     

WHEREAS, it is in the public interest to modify the boundaries of the Monument to exclude from its reservation approximately 1,238,904 acres of land that I find unnecessary for or disadvantageous to the proper care and management of objects to be protected within the Monument; and

WHEREAS, I find that the boundaries of the Monument as described above and on the accompanying map represent the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects of historic and scientific interest identified above.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, proclaim that the boundaries of the Bears Ears National Monument are hereby modified to include those lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government within the boundaries described on the accompanying map, which is attached to and forms a part of this proclamation.  I hereby further proclaim that the modified Monument areas identified on the accompanying map shall be known as the Indian Creek Unit and Shash Jáa Unit, the latter of which shall include the Moon House complex, the Citadel, Doll House Ruins, Scorup Cabin, and the Rig Canyon Exploration site.  These reserved Federal lands cumulatively encompass approximately 121,096 acres.  The boundaries described on the accompanying map are confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.  Any lands reserved by Proclamations 9558, 9681, or 10285 not within the boundaries identified on the accompanying map are hereby excluded from the Monument.

At 9:00 a.m., eastern daylight time, on the date that is 60 days after the date of this proclamation, subject to valid existing rights, the provisions of existing withdrawals, and the requirements of applicable law, the public and National Forest System lands excluded from the Monument reservation shall be open to:

(1)  entry, location, selection, sale, or other disposition under the public land laws and laws applicable to the USFS;

(2)  disposition under all laws relating to mineral and geothermal leasing; and

(3)  location, entry, and patent under the mining laws.

Appropriation of lands under the mining laws before the date and time of restoration is unauthorized.  Any such attempted appropriation, including attempted adverse possession under 30 U.S.C. 38, shall vest no rights against the United States.  Acts required to establish a location and to initiate a right of possession are governed by State law where not in conflict with Federal law.

Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to remove any lands from the Manti-La Sal National Forest or to otherwise revoke, modify, or affect any withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation, other than those set forth in Proclamations 9558, 9681, and 10285.

Nothing in this proclamation shall change the management of the areas designated and reserved by Proclamations 9558, 9681, and 10285 that remain part of the Monument in accordance with the terms of this proclamation, except as provided by the following eleven paragraphs:

For purposes of providing for the proper care and management of the objects identified above, and to facilitate multiple uses of the Monument that are consistent with the proper care and management of those objects, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretaries) shall jointly maintain a management plan for the Monument and shall promulgate such regulations for its management, consistent with applicable law, as they deem appropriate.  The Secretaries, through the BLM and the USFS, shall consult with other Federal land management agencies or agency components in the local area, including the National Park Service, when developing any management plan.  In promulgating any management rules and regulations governing the National Forest System lands within the Monument and developing any management plan, the Secretary of Agriculture, through the USFS, shall consult with the Secretary of the Interior, through the BLM.  The Secretaries shall provide for public involvement in the development of any management plan, including consultation with federally recognized Tribes and State and local governments.  In developing and implementing any management plan, the Secretaries shall provide opportunities, pursuant to applicable legal authorities, for resource sharing, operational efficiency, and cooperation with other Federal land management agencies, State and local governments, and federally recognized Tribes.  When developing any management plan for lands within the Monument, the Secretaries shall take into account, to the maximum extent consistent with the proper care and management of the objects identified above, the importance of (1) providing appropriate access for and otherwise facilitating livestock grazing; (2) maintaining and improving public access to the Monument, including for recreation and hunting; and (3) providing educational experiences that reflect the diversity of the Monument’s natural and anthropogenic features and their use throughout the history of the Bears Ears region.

Proclamations 9558 and 10285 established the Bears Ears Commission (BEC) to provide guidance and recommendations on the development and implementation of management plans and on management of the Monument.  The BEC is hereby disbanded and terminated, and the Secretaries shall have no obligation to engage, consult, or coordinate with the BEC or a comparable entity as provided in, or derived from, either Proclamation 9558 or 10285, though the Secretaries shall continue to consult with Tribal Nations in accordance with other applicable authorities.

Proclamation 9558 established an advisory committee under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) to provide information and advice regarding the development of management plans for the Monument and, as appropriate, management of the Monument.  Proclamation 9558 is hereby revised to clarify that the Monument advisory committee shall consist of a balanced representation of interested stakeholders that specifically includes one member each from the Hopi Nation, the Navajo Nation, the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and the Pueblo of Zuni; one member each from San Juan County, Monticello City, Blanding City, and the Town of Bluff; and six members recommended by the Governor of Utah.  Of those six members recommended by the Governor of Utah, each shall belong to one of the following stakeholder groups:  archaeological or historical experts; livestock grazing permittees; outdoor recreation participants, including commercial recreation providers or off-highway vehicle users; conservationists; private landowners; and local business owners.

Nothing in this proclamation affects the designation, maintenance, and improvement of existing roads and trails within the Monument, which shall continue to be governed by laws and regulations other than this proclamation.  The Secretaries shall prepare a new transportation plan that endeavors to maximize public access to the Monument by designating roads and trails on which motorized and non-motorized vehicle use will be allowed, as well as providing for appropriate maintenance of those roads and trails.  Pending completion of that transportation plan, the Secretaries may allow motorized and non-motorized vehicle use on roads and trails designated for such use immediately before the issuance of Proclamation 9558 and may maintain roads and trails for such use.  The Secretaries may also designate for motorized vehicle use roads and trails that were not designated for such use prior to the issuance of Proclamation 9558, regardless of the purpose of that use.

The Secretaries shall consider the effects of proposed activities, including potential road closures, on historic roads in the Monument, in accordance with the regulations at 36 C.F.R. part 800, as appropriate.

Consistent with the proper care and management of the objects identified above, the Secretaries may authorize ecological restoration and active vegetation management activities in the Monument.  When engaging in management planning for the Monument, the Secretaries shall consider the full range of vegetation management tools, including mechanical mastication, grazing, and new vegetation management technology that becomes available in the future.  Additionally, because noxious weeds and invasive plant species increase wildfire risks, the Secretaries may authorize the use of mechanical, natural, and chemical tools for controlling the proliferation of noxious weeds and invasive plant species, and should coordinate with the San Juan County Weed Board, as appropriate, in developing and implementing treatment plans.  Livestock grazing should be utilized as a primary option for mitigating noxious weeds as well as managing fuels and vegetation.

In recognition of the enduring tradition of livestock grazing in the Monument and its historical and cultural significance to local communities, nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to affect authorizations for livestock grazing, or administration thereof, on Federal lands within the Monument.  Livestock grazing within the Monument shall continue to be governed by laws and regulations other than this proclamation.

The Secretaries shall endeavor to authorize traditional land uses within the Monument, such as grazing, recreation, timber management, public access, and infrastructure development, to the greatest extent possible, consistent with applicable law.  Where restrictions on proposed uses are necessary to comply with applicable laws, such restrictions shall be narrowly tailored.

The Secretaries shall consider livestock grazing lands in the Monument to constitute a traditional cultural place (TCP) and shall consider how proposed activities will impact that TCP in accordance with the regulations at 36 C.F.R. part 800, as appropriate. 

If any livestock grazing permits or leases are voluntarily relinquished by existing holders, the Secretaries shall, within 1 year, re-allocate the relinquished forage, including by issuing a new permit or lease for the relevant allotment, as appropriate, unless the Secretaries specifically find that such reallocation is inconsistent with the proper care and management of the objects identified above.  

If any provision of this proclamation, including its application to a particular parcel of land, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this proclamation shall not be affected thereby.  Furthermore, to the extent that any provision of Proclamations 9558, 9681, or 10285 is inconsistent with or contradicts this proclamation, the terms of this proclamation shall govern.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifty-first.

                             DONALD J. TRUMP

Going Feral: Utah's burning while Deseret Mike Lee is grinning.

Going Feral: Utah's burning while Deseret Mike Lee is grinning.: The U.S. Forest Service closed Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument and Dark Canyon Wilderness on Sunday, June 28, due to the catastrophic Ba...

Utah's burning while Deseret Mike Lee is grinning.

The U.S. Forest Service closed Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument and Dark Canyon Wilderness on Sunday, June 28, due to the catastrophic Babylon Wildfire. The same day, the National Park Service (NPS) announced it was closing the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park as well.

Wake up Utah. 

This is the result of climate change.  You keep electing people like MAGA zealot Deseret Mike Lee.  In Lee's case he feels climate science is a fib, and, based upon his background, he wants to take the public lands for housing (and development) so that as many souls can be downloaded onto Earth as soon as possible to bring about the end of the world, under his belief system, probably.

Vote these people out.  It's not too late to reverse this idiocy.

The 2026 Election, 7th Edition, Do not stand with those who promote the sins that cry out to Heaven.

 

April 14, 2026.

The Donald Trump Effect, voters running from candidates endorsed by the deranged octogenarian whose administration is protecting the rapist of teenagers, starting wars, and causing rising inflation, is having a noticeable nationwide, and even international, effect.  Voters in special elections all over the US are dumping MAGA candidates and electing Democrats.  It's an absolute certainty at this point that, unless something dramatic happens, that the Republicans are going to lose badly at the midterms and retake the House.  And now it appears they're likely to take the Senate. The Cook Political Report shifted four Senate races this past week to favor Democratic and pundits are now openly saying the Democrats will take the upper house.

Of course, Democrats have a way of shooting themselves in the foot.  Nonetheless the momentum is clear.  Trump has lost independents, who he needs in most places for the GOP to remain in office, and he's lost Hispanics.   This past week his actions were such that if he has not lost non Hispanic Catholics, its only because those voters value Trump more than the Faith or are engaging in some really self delusional thinking, keeping in mind that you never actually have to vote Democratic and that in the primaries there is usually a Republican willing to run who isn't a slave to Trump.

California Republicans refused to endorse a Governor's candidate in a convention that was just held and snubbed Trump's endorsement of one. They see the handwriting on the wall.

But still you have this.

An entire group of Wyoming candidates acts like this adoring girl.  Shoot, they'd like to be squeezed by Trump too.

An article on the topic:

Donald Trump and Wyoming’s crowded House race

This all follows, of course, this:

The 25th Amendment Watch List. A Fourteenth and Special edition. Attacking the Catholic Church.

If Wyomingites are going to wake up, and that's unlikely, there's be a point, if we are not already at it, where voting for the GOP candidates who associate with themselves with Trump would be a no go.  And some of those candidates would already be no gos.  

Chuck Gray, who barely won the Secretary of State's office and only did so by lies and screeds about an imaginary pack of left wingers always oppressing him is running on being perpetually pissed off at at the left and being in deep love with Donald Trump.  Reid Rasner promises to be Trump's number one fan.  Megan Degenfelder  has "Endorsed by Donald Trump" on her campaign signs.

All three are Catholic.  If they can still stomach Trump at this point, there's literally no value they hold that they actually hold.  No Democrat is going to win, so lashing themselves to Trump is either cynical or self delusional.  It's inexcusable.

Degenfelder's signs out to read "Endorsed by Blasphemer Donald Trump".  Gray and Rasner, who are both young enough, ought to joint the Marines and put their bodies where their mouths are.

Another far right Catholic figure in Wyoming is Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, who is now running for Secretary of State as Rachel Williams. She's never said anything about Trump of which I'm aware, but as a Freedom Caucuser she ought to fell uncomfortable with the company she's been keeping.

It'll also be interesting to see how columnists like Jonathan Lange, a Lutheran minister, approaches what is now too obvious to ignore. . . Trump doesn't care about religion at all and feels free to outright mock it.  Granted, he's not Catholic, but for sincere Christians what was depicted is blasphemous irrespective of which branch of Christianity a person might be in.

And then we have this:

Cheyenne Attorney Files Complaint For Criminal Investigation Of Chuck Gray

There's no excuse for what Gray did.

Even some Republican states are opposing giving voter data to the Federal Government, but Chuck was the first to comply.

We'll see how this plays out, but if he loses, given his position, he ought to get the maximum penalty.

Anyhow, we're in the thick of the election now, but every day, Donald Trump gets weirder and weirder.  He's insane.  Standing by the insanity is not excusable.

April 15, 2026

Three Rematches Set, So Far, In Wyoming's House Races

Here's an absolute shock:

Five Wyoming U.S. House Candidates Condemn Trump’s Jesus-Like Image

This may be showing that the bloom is actually off the Trump rose.  Generally, Wyoming Republicans have been complete Trump toady's.

The five are Kevin Christensen, who called the post blasphemous, Matt McGinnis, and John Romero-Martinez.  Romero-Martinez, who is a devout Catholic, added that it was not only blasphemous, but sacrilegious.

Kinney the Democratic candidate and Johnson the Libertarian also criticized the act, but less forcefully.

Johnson made the excellent point that this is one of a string of outrages.

Predictably, according to the Cowboy State Daily:

Two more Republican candidates, Casper businessman Reid Rasner and Secretary of State Chuck Gray, didn’t condemn Trump’s actions. They leveled criticism at one another instead.

Both Rasner and Gray are Catholic and if that's all they could muster up people who sit next to them at Mass on Sunday ought to ask them what's the matter with them.

Elsewhere this was an act that finally had a reaction.  Like Johnson noted, you have to wonder where these people were all along.  Trump fan Riley Gaines noted:

Seriously I cannot understand why he’d post this. Is he looking for a response? Does he actually think this?

Gaines must have been asleep for the past decade to actually post a query on Trump's character.  He's self centered and narcissistic, and she seems surprised.

This trend locally and nationally shows that the wheels are really coming off of MAGA.  A Turning Point USA convention that was just held was grossly under attended.  Locally Republicans for the first time feel able to criticize Trump.  There's a significant movement in the state to boot out the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.  A bipartisan movement in the House caused the removal of a Democratic and a Republican sex abuser, bypassing the pathetic Mike Johnson.  It appears the Democrats are going to take the Senate and the House.

For the Republicans, the good thing is that they are finally out of the cave to a degree.  The GOP has been wrecked by Donald Trump, but this may actually give them a chance to start to rebuild it, whereas waiting until after the November election will be utterly too late.

cont:

I recognize that a lot of young voters don't love the policy we have in the Middle East. Okay. I understand that. Don't get disengaged because you disagree with the administration on one topic. Get more involved. That's how we ultimately take the country back.

J. D. Vance.

WTF?

Vance did oppose the war. We know that as he leaked like crazy.  But getting involved would mean booting the GOP into the dustbin, maybe forever.

Vance has remade himself repeatedly.  A person now stating that this is how "we take the country back" is raising interesting questions about where he himself is headed.  He's including himself in the "we" who are young and who oppose the policy in the Middle East.

Is Vance having a Humber Humphrey moment?

It'll be interesting to see if this is Vance's first cautious step into independence.  He's not dumb, and he obviously sees and even acknowledges that the GOP is going into the dumpster.  That statement would seem to be a declaration of independence from Trump.

April 17, 2026

Governor Gordon confirmed that he is not running for a third term.

While we're unlikely to mention this race again, Sheriff Harlan is running for reelection in Natrona County, Wyoming.

Rep. Harshman of Natrona County is running for Superintendent of Public Instruction.  He'd make a very good choice for this position, but it puts his house district in play.   A far right wing candidate was challenging Harshman as well as a Democrat.

Albert Sommers is running for the seat he lost in the last election, House District 20.  It fell to a WFC member.

April 19, 2026

Yesterday was the day of dueling mail flyers for the U.S. House race.  Identically sized campaign flyers for Chuck Gray and Reid Rasner arrived in the mailboxes of Natrona County residents.  Apparently the Gray ones went statewide.

They were really laughable.  Gray's depicts the diminutive Californian standing next to Donald Trump, looking slightly above him. Trump is something like 6'2" tall where as Gray is absolutely tiny.  I'm not a very large person, 5'6", and I look down on Gray, which says something.  Gray has also taken up wearing western wool shirts in an effort to make him look like a Wyomingite, but which really point out that he isn't.  His campaign is based on far right MAGA platforms and sticking next to, and apparently slightly above, the demented belle of the far right ball, Trump.

Rasner, who has no chance, attacked Gray in his, and frankly some of his attacks are landing.  He  may carve votes away from Gray.

Locally, small business owner Neil Jeske announced he was running to take on J. R. Riggins in House District 59, which includes part of Casper and all of Mills.

Riggins is probably in trouble as he only won in that race in the first place as he was the only one running.  He missed the first legislature he was supposed to serve in entirely due to heart problems.  I saw him at a political event before the last legislative session and he really appeared to be out to sea.  

Unfortunately, Jeske is the candidate that Natrona County doesn't need.  He already is on the reduce spending and reduce regulation platform.  Wyoming already has so little regulation that the state government would have to go out and regulate something in order for their to be regulation to cut, and the legislature is so cheap that Wyoming has very large financial reserves that just sit there as the state won't distribute funds to local governments, their only real way of getting them.  We probably need more regulation and less financial restraint.

Jeske is apparently a truck driver.  I don't know what Riggins is.  At any rate, truck driving in 2026 is sort of like being a teamster in 1916.  It's a real job. . . and one that's about to disappear.  Hopefully somebody else will step up and run.

April 21, 2026

Based upon his campaign propaganda, Jeske, mentioned above, is a worst pick than Riggins.  He's another out of state implant and of far right wing views.  He's going on the don't vote for list.

Riggins, on the other hand, based on his public lands voting, appears to have risen to his position.

April 22, 2026

In the move The Hunt For Red October the pursuing Soviet submarine commander orders the safeties taken off of his torpedoes so he can hit the Red October from close range.  The U.S. submarine USS Dallas deflects the aim of the fired torpedo which circles back and hits the Soviet sub.  As it happens, a Soviet submariner tells his captain, "You arrogant ass, you killed us".

That's exactly what Donald Trump is doing to the GOP.

More particularly, that's what he did by demanding that Texas redistrict out of cycle.

Worried that thing were turning against him, Trump demanded that compliant Texas Governor Abbot cause the GOP controlled Texas legislature to convene and specially redistrict.  Abbot, to his everlasting shame, complied.

Trump is apparently so dim that he didn't realize the same strategy could be used against him. First California did it, and now Virginia did.

Even accepting the conventional math, there are now more Democratic districts that added to the map for the fall than there are Republican ones, although only barely so.  Still, the results are remarkable.  In Virginia, where it was done by the voters, it will mean that Virginia returns to being an overwhelmingly Democratic state in terms of is House or Representatives delegates.  Trump actually completely flipped an entire state from Republican to Democrat prior to the election itself.

The GOP, in order to keep this game up, must now have Florida do the same thing.  It's not assured, however, as Florida is starting to go to the Democratic Party a bit all on its own.  Redistricting may simply assure that occurs.

And ironically, the Texas result may have added Democratic seats in Texas.  Texas actually has more Democratic voters than Republicans.  In recent years its only been a Republican state for the same reason the rest of the South is.  But Texas also has heavily Hispanic districts. Trump took them in 2024, but now that's changing.

And this from a guy who claimed to master "the art of the deal".

A note here about one state that tried to redistrict and couldn't, that being Utah.

Most Western states have a much better system than the rest of the country and require fair and balanced redistricting.  Much of the rest of the country which had Democratic administrations was moving that way. Republicans, who were rapidly becoming a minority party in the 1990s, resisted it.  That's why in Californian and Virginia, redistricting is being democratically.  It's also the reason why in one Midwestern state that's currently done this way the legislature refused to consider redistricting even though its Republican controlled. They knew the voters, in that instance, would take it out on them.

In Utah, a court turned the effort around.  It was only one seat, but that shows something interesting.  Utah has a Democratic Congressional seat.  Utah's the same state that sent Mike Lee to Congress for some reason, but not every district fits that mold.

And in a state like Wyoming, which of course only has one Congressional seat, this couldn't happen as it would be against the state constitution.

cont:

Wyoming Public Radio reports that for the House race, Reid Rasner, who will go down in August like a kerosene doused biplane flying through a blast furnace, has raised $1.2 M in this campaign, the majority of which is a loan from himself.  Chuck Gray has done the same and nearly approached $1M.

Committing that amount of money to a job that pays a fraction of that per year should flat out be illegal.  We need to address that in our "don't vote for" list, which has been switched over to being a page on the website, rather than a thread.

Related threads:

Pollice Verso. The 2026 Political Negative Endorsement. The Don't Vote For List.

Last edition:

The 2026 Election, 6th Edition, Campaigning before defeats.

Labels: 2020s, 2026, 2026 Election, Carpetbaggers, Chad Auer, Chuck Gray, Frank Chapman, Harriet Hageman, John Romero-Martinez, Megan Degenfelder, Politics, Reid Rasner, Wyoming Freedom Caucus