Trump to Gut Bears Ears, Grand Staircase

 by Tim Peterson, Utah Wildlands Director

On Friday, as the Bears Ears Commission of Tribes, which includes the Hopi, Zuni, Navajo, Ute, and Ute Mountain Ute, was preparing for its meeting with the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service to discuss the management of Bears Ears National Monument, the Salt Lake Tribune broke discouraging news. President Trump had phoned Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, to tell him he had decided to shrink Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. 

“I’m approving the Bears Ears recommendation for you, Orrin.” – President Trump

Hatch told the Salt Lake Tribune: “We believe in the importance of protecting these sacred antiquities, but Secretary Zinke and the Trump administration rolled up their sleeves to dig in, talk to locals, talk to local tribes, and find a better way to do it,” said Hatch. “We’ll continue to work closely with them moving forward to ensure Utahns have a voice.”

But Secretary Zinke and the president are not listening to the voice of the locals — 88 percent of self-identified Utahns and 99 percent of those nationwide who commented on the fate of national monuments want them protected, not eviscerated. On Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s visit to Utah during the national monument review period, he spent about two hours meeting with locals who support the monument, while the rest of his time was spent flanked by monument opponents.

When Senator Hatch refers to “local tribes,” we’re not sure who he means. The tribes closest to Bears Ears (the Navajo Nation and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe), as well as hundreds of tribes across the country support leaving Bears Ears protected for the future. None have registered their support of the president’s plan to shrink national monuments — not one.

Tribal sovereignty — what’s that?

Adding insult to injury, not one tribal president, chairman, or tribal council was contacted by President Trump to share his news that he concurs with Secretary Zinke’s recommendation to shrink Bears Ears. This despite the fact that tribes are co-equal sovereigns with the state of Utah under the U.S. Constitution. 

The Bears Ears Commission of Tribes, the body responsible for the collaborative management of Bears Ears under the law, was not contacted by Trump either, revealing a disregard for the government-to-government relationship with tribes that the president is legally bound to honor. Despite this slight, the commission continued to meet in Moab, Utah last Friday, redoubled in their determination to work to preserve their heritage and the sacred sites found at Bears Ears for the benefit of all Americans. 

Later in the day, news trickled in that Sen. Mike Lee, Gov. Gary Herbert, and Rep. Rob Bishop (all Republicans from Utah), had all received calls from the president announcing impending national monument shrinkage. This led Bishop’s committee to post this disrespectful tweet.

The Washington Post and others also reported that Grand Staircase is on the chopping block, expected to be cut back to facilitate coal mining in the very area where the most complete juvenile Tyrannosaur ever excavated was recovered earlier this month.

This news is bad — and more bad news is on the way

President Trump is scheduled to visit Utah in “the first part of early December,” according to White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and is expected to take action to diminish Bears Ears and Grand Staircase at that time. We may get to see Secretary Zinke’s complete and official recommendations on shrinking national monuments then, or before then, or not, we still don’t know.  

In the meantime, the tribes, Grand Canyon Trust, and our conservation and outdoor business allies are preparing legal action should President Trump attempt to alter these two important national monuments. Natalie Landreth, Senior Staff Attorney with the Native American Rights Fund said it best to the Washington Post on Friday: “We’re confident [Trump] doesn’t have the authority to do this. He can expect to be tied up in court for the next several years and ultimately fail.” 

What can you do now?

Let President Trump and Secretary Zinke know you #StandWithBearsEars, #StandWithGrandstiarcase, and want #monumentsforall left untouched on Twitter by tweeting at them at their handles: @realDonaldTrump and @SecretaryZinke. Please also consider a special donation to the Native American Rights Fund, which provides legal representation to the tribes. 

Senator Hatch called Bears Ears supporters like you and me “radical” and “real screamers” in the Salt Lake Tribune, and that if we challenge Trump’s unlawful action, we’ll “lose.” Let’s prove him wrong.