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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — In the hopes that the new Bears Ears National Monument will be rescinded, a Utah lawmaker has already introduced a resolution encouraging the state to redesignate a small slice of the area and make it a state park.
Republican bill sponsor Rep. Michael Noel said Monday that the resolution could help to protect about 1,000 acres of land that Native Americans consider spiritual near a set of rock formations for which the Bears Ears area is named.
That is only a tiny part of the 1.35 million acres protected in the monument, all of which are considered spiritual.
The state could buy the land if the monument is reversed because of a U.S. law allowing Washington to sell the land to states and local governments if it's used for recreation or public purpose.
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