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This is irony at its best (or worst). A bill that proposes renaming a southern Utah highway after President Trump is making its way through the Utah legislature. Republican representative Mike Noel created the bill. It would rename the Utah National Parks Highway–a stretch of pavement that winds through all of Utah’s National Parks–the “Donald J. Trump Utah National Parks Highway.”
The bill passed the agriculture and environment committee this week with a 9-2 vote and now moves on to the House. The renaming of the road, says Noel, is to thank Trump for greatly reducing the size of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bear’s Ears National monuments in December. “President Trump cares about the public lands,” Noel said. “President Trump’s family cares about the public lands and he cares about Utah and what we’re thinking.”
There is some serious backlash within the state though (and witty at that). Senator Jim Debakis proposed amendments to rename the frontage road near a section of the highway the “Stormy Daniels rampway,” referencing the porn star who is currently suing the president, alleging Trump never signed a non-disclosure agreement following a reported affair in 2006.
“I just want the Legislature to understand the level of disrespect that a lot of citizens are feeling by this notion of awarding him this most special byway in the United States,” Dabakis said.
Utah governor Gary Herbert even threw shade on the idea, calling the move, “premature.” Especially since shrinking the monuments essentially drove the Outdoor Retailer show out of Salt Lake for good last year, an economic driver which brought in about $45 million annually to the state and is something Herbert must now answer to with many of his constituents.
If nothing else the move by Noel is certainly a rub in the face of environmentalists and outdoorspeople who valued the protection of these wild places.
UPDATE: A few hours ago, Representative Noel decided to shelve the bill that would rename the road after receiving a significant amount of backlash. He told a Salt Lake television station that it was, “still controversial,” while Governor Herbert indicated he would veto the legislation if it reached his desk.
