by Tim Peterson, Utah Wildlands Director
Utahns love their national monuments and they’re going to show it this Saturday, May 6, 2017 on the steps of the state capitol in Salt Lake City. Supporters of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments will rally at 1pm on May 6 in advance of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s long-anticipated trip to Utah later next week. Join the rally ›
Zinke’s visit, expected May 8 and 9, comes on the heels on President Trump’s controversial April 26, 2017 executive order on national monuments, which directed the Department of the Interior to review and recommend changes to Bears Ears National Monument within 45 days. Although the executive order calls for the review of all national monuments designated by presidential use of the Antiquities Act since 1996, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante have been singled out as primary targets by members of Utah’s congressional delegation, who want the monuments reduced in size or eliminated.
During his time in Utah, Zinke is expected to meet with Utah’s governor, leaders in the state legislature, county commissioners, and other stakeholders in San Juan County. Notably absent from the secretary’s itinerary so far is any formal meeting with the five tribes of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, which is composed of the Hopi, Zuni, Navajo Nation, Ute, and Ute Mountain Ute tribal governments. The coalition has worked for years to protect their ancestral homelands as Bears Ears National Monument, making the 45-day deadline for its review seem cursory at best.
Secretary Zinke did meet with three San Juan County commissioners in Washington D.C. this week, but multiple phone calls and letters from the five sovereign tribal governments of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition requesting similar meetings have thus far gone unanswered.
On the eve of Secretary Zinke’s visit, there are a few key points worth highlighting.
We couldn’t agree more. The 26 tribes closest to Bears Ears, the Utah Tribal Leaders Association, six of seven Utah Navajo chapter houses, and the more than 250 member nations of the National Congress of American Indians all passed formal resolutions in strong support of Bears Ears National Monument. The effort to protect and defend Bears Ears is led by the sovereign tribes of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition in their official governmental capacity. This unity among Native American nations is unprecedented and its significance cannot be understated.
During his nomination hearing, Zinke committed “to go out to Utah first and talk to the governor, talk to the people who are on the ground and come back and make a recommendation to the president [about Bears Ears National Monument].” We urge Secretary Zinke to make good on that promise and meet with the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition to hear firsthand what makes Bears Ears National Monument so important not only to Native American self-determination, but to the preservation of heritage and culture.
Co-Chair of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition and Vice-Chairman of the Hopi Tribe Alfred Lomahquahu has asked Secretary Zinke to consider the widespread support for the Bears Ears National Monument, noting that “according to the trust relationship and the government-to-government relationship, consultation with tribes must occur before sweeping decisions are made… any action diminishing Bears Ears would be a superlative dishonor to both the trust relationship and the government-to-government relationship, and would position the Department of Interior for some very rough going in Indian Country.”
We join the tribes in urging Secretary Zinke to respect tribal concerns, self-determination, and sovereignty. During his confirmation hearing, Secretary Zinke said he had “great respect for the Indian Nations.” Now is the time to make his words real with action.
Far from being a surprise “midnight monument,” the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released hundreds of pages documents detailing consultation and close coordination between the previous administration and the Utah delegation, governor, and San Juan County regarding Bears Ears. In fact, the previous administration designated Bears Ears National Monument only after Congress failed to act on a piece of legislation three years in the making.
The previous administration worked hard to walk a political middle path – deferring to the state of Utah on Bears Ears boundaries and on monument management with the proclamation’s establishment of a federal advisory committee composed of a “fair and balanced representation of interested stakeholders, including State and local governments, tribes, recreational users, local business owners, and private landowners.”
The Utah delegation continues to hold up a handful of Native American tribal members as evidence of widespread Native opposition, but none of these individuals are elected to represent their tribes. It’s time for Secretary Zinke to meet with and listen to tribal leaders, like Navajo Nation Council Delegate Davis Filfred, elected to represent Utah Navajo Chapters, who said: “We are asking the Trump administration and Secretary Ryan Zinke to respect the position of the tribes including the Navajo Nation, by upholding the national monument designation of Bears Ears, and we ask that they consult with us and address the concerns of the Bears Ears Tribal Commission as this issue moves forward.”
A careful review of the monument’s proclamation and the Department of Interior’s administrative record will confirm that Bears Ears’ current boundaries are replete with “historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historical and scientific interest” including archaeology, paleontology, geology, LDS pioneer history, and unmatched scenic beauty. Bears Ears contains among the highest densities of cultural sites in the Unites States, and an objective review will confirm that the monument is “the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects to be protected.”
Any change in the monument boundaries would be devastating to the monument’s archaeological, cultural, and ecological integrity. Undoing or shrinking Bears Ears National Monument would harm tribal self-determination, undermine the sovereignty of the tribes and the trust relationship, and disrespect the will of hundreds of thousands of people who have voiced their support for Bears Ears.
National monuments are popular. 80% of Western voters favor keeping our national monuments as they are. That includes Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante.
Email. Urge Secretary Zinke to stand with Bears Ears and uphold the monument’s current boundaries ›
Phone. Call Secretary Zinke’s office at 202-208-7351.
Twitter. Secretary Zinke says this is the best way to reach him. Tweet at him at @SecretaryZinke using the hashtag #StandWithBearsEars and urge him to keep Bears Ears National Monument as it is.
Donate. Please consider a special gift to Grand Canyon Trust’s Bears Ears Defense Fund to support our work to defend Bears Ears.
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