If you’ve been following developments around the current administration’s efforts to gut Bears Ears National Monument, the following will come as no surprise.
In a rushed and haphazard effort to open monument lands to more mining, more grazing, and more off-road vehicle use, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is leading a planning process for the shrunken units of Bears Ears National Monument that — were it not so distressing — might be considered laughable.
But the draft plan is no joke. It’s set to deliver a crushing blow to fragile and irreplaceable cultural heritage found at Bears Ears that Native Americans and conservationists have sought to protect for generations.
National monuments are supposed to be managed to protect the values for which they are named. In the case of Bears Ears, those “monument objects” are cultural resources, wildlife, geology, and fossils.
But this draft plan fails to do that. In fact, it fails to even meet basic standards established by the BLM for managing national monuments in its own policies and procedures. It also punts important cultural resource management off to a later date, inviting avoidable damage to unique and revered cultural sites.
Please include specific information on the plan’s shortcomings, and your experiences in and connections to Bears Ears. It’s essential to write your comment in your own words. If you copy and paste, the BLM may ignore your comments.
Apply the most protective measures possible. Alternative D (the preferred alternative) falls short of even the basic requirements for how the BLM is supposed to manage “national conservation lands.” The BLM is supposed to prioritize protecting the monument objects that the monument was designated to protect and apply the most protective measures possible.
Allowing “enhanced” motorized recreation, timber cutting, increased livestock grazing, vegetation removal, and mineral exploration and development are unacceptable inside national monuments. These do not belong in the preferred or in any alternative considered for Bears Ears National Monument.
Stop wasting taxpayer money. The BLM has already spent nearly $1 million on a plan for a shrunken monument that likely won’t stand up to a legal challenge when it’s complete.
The BLM must include at least one alternative that plans for the full 1.35 million acre cultural landscape designated as Bears Ears National Monument in 2016.
Planning in a hurry while the courts determine the legality of the monument reduction is poor public policy. Both taxpayers and the land lose.
Protect cultural resources now, not later. Waiting for harm to fragile and irreplaceable cultural resources to occur and then reacting, as the plan proposes, is unacceptable. The BLM must work with Native American tribes to develop and implement a plan to better manage cultural resources and avoid irreversible harm now.
Increased visitation and the unintended impacts to exceptional cultural resources by otherwise well-meaning visitors must be addressed immediately.
Bolster Native American tribal involvement. Instead of rushing the process, the BLM must meaningfully engage Native American tribes in the development of a management plan for the entire Bears Ears cultural landscape, not just the shrunken monument units.
The BLM seems to be scrambling to complete the plan by year’s end in an effort to beat the courts and/or Congress, either of which could restore Bears Ears National Monument to its original boundaries. For that reason, it’s important they get as much pushback from the public as possible.
If you’d prefer to write a letter, you can mail it to the BLM, Canyon Country District Office, Attention: Lance Porter, 82 East Dogwood, Moab, Utah 84534.
The BLM will also hold three public meetings on the plan. If you live in driving distance, please attend, submit your comments in person, and voice your support for protecting Bears Ears National Monument.
Tuesday, October 2, 2018, from 5 to 8 p.m., San Juan High School, 311 N 100 E.
Wednesday, October 3, 2018, from 5 to 8 p.m., Bluff Community Center, 190 N 3rd St E.
Thursday, October 4, 2018, from 5 to 8 p.m., White Horse High School, State Highway 162.
Thanks for your continuing efforts to protect and defend Bears Ears, we appreciate it, and we know the land does too. We can’t do our work without you.
As an Arizonian this disturbs and infuriates me so much. These places are irreplaceable and they are sacred and a gift to each person who goes to walk and think and wonder at the beauty and connection they give us with nature and with human beings who we'll never get to meet and learn from. AND THEN THERE'S JUST PLAIN GOOD SENSE AND SHORTSIGHTED CHOSEN STUPIDITY - ARIZONA'S MAIN INDUSTRY IS TOURISM, AND PEOPLE THINK 'ARIZONA ! ' WHEN THEY THINK OF ARCHEOLOGY, ANTHROPOLOGY, GEOLOGY. As we allow the destruction of our abundant places of beauty/learning/ecological balance, we do two very stupid things 1) we destroy the businesses and livelihoods of Arizonans who provide everything from lodging to shampoo, to the thousands of Americans and people coming here from all over the world - nature lovers, students/professors, photographers, scientists, families - they come because there is nowhere else on earth where they'll have access to the specific offerings of places like Bear's Ears. 2) we sell everything down the river for some immediate, BUT limited dollars that we should we earning proactively, in ways that do no harm to our lands, water, air and wildlife and ultimately provide our people with long lasting, healthy ways to have the energy we consume. If this were New Jersey, for instance it might be more understandable, because solar doesn't get everything it needs to operate, 24/7 there. BUT THIS IS ARIZONA DUNDERHEADS ! SUN AND WIND ARE THE FREE GIFTS WE'VE BEEN GIVEN TO MEET OUR NEEDS.
no construction in Bear Ears. period.
Keep it open for the youth!!
Please leave this beautiful and historical place alone. I have not seen it yet. My children have not seen it yet. Generations of people to come will be amazed and inspired by seeing this place.
Please stop destroying our country’s natural resources now!!