The Utah uranium mining rush that wasn't
Following President Trump's shrinking of the protected areas in Utah's Bears Ears National Monument, speculation grew of a land rush and a move to open more uranium mines in the area. But the prospectors hoping to get rich quick never came. What did happen was a rollback of protected lands, another American affront to Native Americans, and an arcane system of permits and licenses that limits "land rushes" to large corporations with the legal means to navigate the process.