A Letter from Board Chair Jim Enote

BY JIM ENOTE

Greetings Friends,

A few years ago, I could not imagine the dramatic events ravaging the world today. Now more than ever, humanity must be free to seek solace in sublime natural spaces. 

The Grand Canyon Trust exists to ensure future generations will have places for healing and joy. Sadly, we must continually be aware that even the most glorious places on Earth, including here on the Colorado Plateau, can be threatened by greed and misguided political decisions. 

But there is always hope, and we have a qualified and competent team. This edition of the Advocate focuses on the Trust's influence and involvement to restore Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. It details quiet successes, including how the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and community collaboration helped stop the White Mesa uranium mill from receiving Superfund waste, and the ways clever legislation and policy work advanced the REGROW Act, as part of the infrastructure bill, to fund grants to plug and clean up abandoned oil and gas wells.

As a natural resource manager for the Zuni Tribe in the 1980s, I was often bewildered by the frequent dismissal of Native perspectives in public land management. It would be unthinkable today, but those antiquated attitudes were genuine and slow to change. I am pleased to read how the Trust's Lifeways project elevates and dignifies tribal perspectives. This is an important distinction of how the Trust does work differently. 

I think you will agree that the world needs a replicable model for appreciating people and protecting places. The Grand Canyon Trust is doing good work, and many are watching how we build mutual understanding and transform the way society relates to and cares for places. 

• We have a defined purpose and momentum. 
• We do not sit with our ideas entirely indoors. 
• We expose them to the natural forces of the sun, rain, and wind. 
• We are not paralyzed with indecision. 
• We wake in the morning, decide which foot goes in front of the other, and move. 

Generations before us struggled, but people stood and got into lines, chanted old words, conjured the beings around them and those above and below. Those acts are part of a universal and dramatic plan time-tested and appraised with terms set by nature and metaphor. 

Enjoy this edition of the Advocate, and thank you for supporting the Grand Canyon Trust.

Sincerely,

Jim Enote
Chair, Grand Canyon Trust Board of Trustees