by Tim Peterson, Cultural Landscapes Director
Is good news coming for Utah’s embattled national monuments? According to the Washington Post, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has recommended that protections be restored for Utah's Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in a confidential report delivered to the White House on June 2, 2021.
Secretary Haaland’s recommendations follow a visit to Utah in April. The review of President Trump’s 2017 actions slashing protections for the monuments was required by an executive order on climate and the environment that President Biden signed on his first day in office.
During his campaign, then-candidate Biden promised to take action on the monuments, pledging to “take immediate steps to reverse the Trump administration’s assaults on America’s natural treasures, including by reversing Trump’s attacks on…Bears Ears, and Grand Staircase-Escalante.”
The Inauguration Day order was an immediate step, and now that the report is finished and favorable recommendations have been made, we hope action to restore the boundaries of both monuments — and expand Bears Ears — will come soon.
Threats to Bears Ears and Grand Staircase are real, and they are growing. This spring, new uranium and vanadium mining claims were filed on lands unlawfully cut from Bears Ears, and a plan of operations for one of the claims has been filed as well.
Reflecting on this, Diné (Navajo) environmental scientist Dr. Tommy Rock connected uranium, Bears Ears, and environmental justice in a recent op-ed in the Arizona Republic. Dr. Rock’s words offer some much-needed perspective:
“When it comes to mineral extraction in Bears Ears, I think a lot of people do not realize how important it is to us as Indigenous people. As a uranium researcher, I know firsthand about the radioactive legacy of the Cold War that plagues my community.
My community is not just people. For us, everything is alive, even the dirt, the plants and the rocks. We recognize our relationship with our other than human relatives, and we are linked with them as one community.
We use the environment for food, for shelter and for ceremony. There is a mutual respect between people and this environment; we cannot separate ourselves from this community.
Uranium mining and oil and gas extraction interrupt that relationship within our community. And when it happens, there are consequences. The environment is not healthy, and in return, we are not healthy because it creates a gap in our being.”
Near the close of the piece, Dr. Rock connects the dots, saying, “President Joe Biden has committed to the cause of environmental justice. For me, success on environmental justice is restoring Bears Ears and Grand Staircase, and it is cleaning up abandoned uranium mines.”
The fossil fuel industry has been eyeing Bears Ears too. Industry submitted nominations for more than 40,000 acres of oil and gas leases on lands unlawfully cut from the monument in 2017. The Bureau of Land Management has the discretion not to auction off these leases, but the sheer volume of land proposed is a strong indication that promptly restoring protections is necessary. National monument designations prevent new mining claims and new oil and gas leasing.
Visitation is growing too, but budgets to plan for and manage those visitors are not. There is hopeful news on that front, though. President Biden’s 2022 budget request includes a 47 percent boost in funding for the National Conservation Lands, a system of protected Bureau of Land Management lands that includes Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. Now it’s up to Congress to pass this budget, and we’re hopeful that more resources will mean better planning for the future, along with better management.
Finally, recent and shocking incidents of vandalism to cultural sites in southern Utah highlight the need for restored protections, better visitor management, and better education for the visiting public. One rock climber drilled bolts into a petroglyph panel, and another vandal scrawled racist language and an obscene drawing on a revered rock art panel near Moab, Utah.
One can’t help but connect President Trump’s proclamation calling cultural resources that he slashed from Bears Ears “not unique” and “not of significant scientific or historic interest” to actions like these. Disrespect begets disrespect, and it’s time to do better. Both incidents demonstrate that there is much work to be done in teaching people how to visit respectfully. Tribal leaders and elders recently shared some guidance on this subject.
READ MORE. How to visit Bears Ears and Cultural Sites with Respect ›
Looking ahead, restoring the monuments’ boundaries is only the first step. There is much work to be done in ensuring that Bears Ears is managed collaboratively and with the benefit of the traditional knowledge of the five tribal nations of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, and that Grand Staircase-Escalante reclaims its science-driven focus. Both monuments deserve to be restored, and protections cannot return soon enough!
On October 8, 2021, President Biden restored full protections to Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. Send a personal note of thanks to President Biden.
Cultural landscapes are full of stories, artifacts, and resources to appreciate. Here's how ›
Bears Ears petroglyph panels and cultural sites protected by new proposed management plan.
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Find out how the Bureau of Land Management is planning to protect old-growth forests, creeks, canyons, fossils, and more in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
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A rally in Salt Lake City followed by a spiritual walk in White Mesa demonstrate the Ute community's determination to see uranium mill close.
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