A Utah rancher is speaking out against the administration’s devastating climate change and conservation efforts as his family’s livelihood could be upended due to President Biden’s national monument designation.
Chris Heaton, a Kanab City, Utah Council member and rancher, discussed how the impact of Biden’s plans for a national monument, Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni, have put his private water rights in jeopardy.
“I have 40,000 plus acres of federal and state land that I lease from the federal and the state of Arizona, and that is impacted,” Heaton told FOX Business’ “The Bottom Line” Tuesday.
“With that land, we own private water rights that are definitely affected, and they’re [the government] not addressing how those private water rights would be affected by this monument,” he continued.
On Tuesday, the president signed a proclamation establishing the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in Arizona, his fifth national monument since taking office.
“They’re shoving it down our throats,” Heaton said.
The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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A strip of land in Arizona just north of the Colorado River has been in Heaton’s family since the late 1800s.
Heaton explained that all the wildlife and livestock is “watered by stock ponds, springs and wells that are owned and maintained by the ranchers.”
He argued that the Biden administration could “harm” the environment and wildlife in the area if they “get rid of the water sources” to cater to the protection of the grounds included in the monument.
“There’s no management. There’s nothing in place,” Heaton explained when expressing his frustration with the government’s actions.
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On Monday, White House Counsel Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory told reporters that Biden is taking steps to ensure that the Grand Canyon “will stay pristine for generations,” and that he is “doing so in a way that recognizes this and supports the importance of hunting and fishing in the area, protects existing grazing permits and leases and fully protects private property rights.”
“They’re [the government] telling us we’re going to like it, but they’re not telling us what it will do and how it will help or hurt us,” Heaton told hosts Dagen McDowell and Sean Duffy.
Ahead of Biden’s trip to Arizona Tuesday, the government displayed three maps of the proposed monument that included private land owned by Heaton’s family.
“We actually did find out today [Tuesday] that the private land was excluded,” Heaton said.
But despite the government’s last-minute change to what land will be included in the monument, Heaton described the administration’s efforts as an “attack on private businesses.”
“They’re attacking us,” he stressed.
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Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
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