by jocelyn | Nov 13, 2018 | Uncategorized
Bears Ears National Monument is a Native American-led effort to protect ancestral lands of the Diné, Hopi, Ute, Zuni and Ancestral Puebloan peoples. But despite pending litigation, a new Department of the Interior proposal would leave important cultural resources at risk while the courts determine the legality of President Trump’s proclamation to reduce the monument’s size by 85%.
This Native American Heritage Month, join thousands of Americans across the country who are telling the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that sacred Native American cultural sites deserve real protection. Send your comment today!
We only have until Thursday, November 15 to make our voices heard. Please speak up now!
Thank you for taking action to defend Bears Ears and all of America’s national monuments.
by jocelyn | Aug 28, 2018 | Uncategorized
Last December, President Donald Trump dismantled Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah, eliminating nearly 1 million acres of public land protections. Despite active litigation, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has drafted land use plans using the diminished monument boundaries and is seeking public comments.
Tell the BLM: Don’t sacrifice Grand Staircase-Escalante public lands to drilling, mining, and other development!
Grand Staircase-Escalante was designated as a National Monument to safeguard the incredible scientific, ecological, and paleontological resources within its 1.9 million acres. The Monument’s unique resources are inspiring, and its amazing geological and paleontological wonders deserve protection to ensure scientific and recreation opportunities for people who come from near and far.
It is important to participate in this process, both to register your disapproval of these actions and to voice your opinion on the values that these lands contain and how they should be managed. Please note that personalizing your message with your own thoughts and experiences is extremely critical for your comment to be fully considered.
Submit your comment today!
by jocelyn | Aug 15, 2018 | Uncategorized
Ignoring Public Opposition and Legal Challenges, Department of Interior Releases Draft Management Plans
Photo credit BLM.
Escalante, UTAH – Today, an assortment of local and national groups, and globally-respected scientist organizations, denounced the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) release of draft management plans for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments as another step toward shrinking and destroying both. Despite unresolved legal challenges and a warning from 16 Senators in April to hold off on further planning, Secretary Zinke has pushed Interior and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to hastily craft management plans–spending nearly 2 million taxpayer dollars so far[1]–that do not reflect the original boundaries of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, or the public’s desire for these treasured places to be protected from mining and drilling.
While this administration continues to try to ignore public comment and dismiss the benefits of national monuments, these comments continue to be extremely important in demonstrating broad national support for protected lands.
Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments are both world-renowned hotbeds of paleontological research, world-class destinations for outdoor recreation and natural beauty, and major economic drivers for small businesses in these regions. Bears Ears has been home to Hopi, Diné, Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, and Zuni peoples since time immemorial, and was designated as a national monument in 2016 to protect countless archaeological, cultural, and natural resources, including the wealth of traditional knowledge that Native people hold for this region.
Below are statements from advocates/organizations who disagree with the DOI’s planning process, and the hastily-issued management plans based on proclamations still being challenged in court:
Local Grassroots Organizations
Nicole Croft, Executive Director, Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners
“Grand Staircase Escalante Partners is incredibly disappointed that the BLM is moving with such haste to present management plans for the reduced monuments and excised lands from the Grand Staircase for public comment, with significant cost to the taxpayers. By the BLM’s own estimate, the Grand Staircase plan alone has already cost American taxpayers $1,160,004. That’s money desperately needed to improve hiking trails, hunting grounds and law enforcement. The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument already has a plan that should remain in place, continuing to protect the priceless antiquities within its borders, at least until a court rules on the legality of the Trump reduction.”
Honor Keeler, Assistant Director, Utah Diné Bikéyah
“It’s time that Native voices, as the original peoples of the Bears Ears region, are heard and the sovereign rights of Native Nations to protect their sacred places are recognized,” said Keeler, before adding, “These rights are affirmed through treaties, laws, legal precedent, and the government-to-government relationship Native Nations have with the federal government. In this country, we do not condone tearing down a church or temple with people in it and hand back in piecemeal the bricks and sacred items that have been destroyed. Likewise, the Bears Ears region is a sacred place that cannot be chopped up into pieces, for it is a sacred place in its entirety that has been used for thousands of years by the Indigenous Peoples of these lands.”
Globally-Respected Scientists
William Doelle, President and CEO, Archaeology Southwest
“The rushed timeframe the BLM has pursued has almost certainly resulted in a flawed document that aims to manage an unacceptably and illegally downsized national monument. The lack of tribal engagement and lack of appropriate landscape scale are clearly the biggest flaws. This flawed process unfairly but necessarily shifts the burden onto reviewers to engage with this and work to repair the omissions.”
David Polly, President, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
“The consultation for the draft management plan was rushed through, especially with regards to the scientific resources that are the reason it was established, including astounding fossil sites– massive dinosaurs, and tiny mammals that record our own origins–in every part of the excluded areas of the Monument. Even with a comprehensive new management plan, the protection afforded to the more than 700 excluded paleontological sites is much weaker than in the original monument.”
Conservation Organizations
Brian Sybert, Executive Director, Conservation Lands Foundation
“This is another important opportunity for the public–the owners of these lands–to stand up to this reckless process and register official comments of opposition. Should the Interior Department continue its proven habit of ignoring comments they don’t like, the public’s official input is still vital to the record and future decisions affecting these places.”
Nada Culver, Senior Counsel, The Wilderness Society
“We’re being asked to provide input as the administration demonstrates its true intent to disregard both the law and the public in managing our public lands, including our most treasured national monuments. The federal agencies have gone to the trouble of developing alternative plans that would prioritize protecting monument objects and natural and cultural resources, then stated that they prefer other approaches. Even more disturbing, lands that have been illegally cut out of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument would now be thrown open to drilling and mining for coal, oil, gas and other minerals, with little regard for the true values of these irreplaceable lands. On top of that, these plans are being rushed through at an unprecedented pace while a court reviews legal challenges to President Trump’s invalid attempts to dismantle our national monuments. This is not acceptable and we will not accept it. We will continue fighting any and all efforts to undermine the Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments.”
Stephen Bloch, Legal Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
“The BLM’s proposed management plan for the lands President Trump unlawfully carved out of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is not only illegal, but sets the stage for the destruction of this unique landscape that has been protected for more than two decades. The BLM’s preferred alternative would open this remarkable place to new oil and gas leasing, mining, and off-road vehicle damage. To quote the BLM directly from the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, their preferred alternative would ‘conserve the least land area for physical, biological, and cultural resources … and is the least restrictive to energy and mineral development.’ Places like the Circle Cliffs region along the Burr Trail and Wolverine Loop Roads and the Vermilion Cliffs east of Kanab are now in the crosshairs and at immediate risk of being irreparably destroyed. Even the lands that Trump left as national monuments would be managed in a way that is less protective than they currently enjoy. The plan for Bears Ears National Monument is equally bad, prioritizing consumptive uses such as grazing and logging and failing to protect cultural resources and wilderness-quality lands. SUWA won’t rest until Trump’s unlawful orders are overturned and will do everything in our power to ensure that these plans are never implemented.”
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[1] Combined total, “Estimated Total Lead Agency Costs Associated with Developing and Producing this Document” $1,160,004 for Grand Staircase-Escalante, and $755,000 for Bears Ears.
by jocelyn | Jul 24, 2018 | Uncategorized
Great news! Ironwood Forest National Monument will continue to be protected thanks to you and your support. Last week, Rep. Paul Gosar (AZ) proposed a damaging amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill, which would have blocked funding for this treasured Arizona landscape. Whether you contacted your members of Congress, participated directly in the public comment process during the Trump Administration’s review of national monuments, shared your view on social media, or simply discussed these treasured places with family and friends in the past two years, you’ve won.
The amendment failed on the House floor by a bipartisan vote of 193 to 220. This is the result of the clear message you helped send: that Americans want the Antiquities Act and national monuments to remain unchanged. It also sets a clear precedent for future would-be attacks on monuments and our bedrock environmental laws.
Credit Bob Wick/BLM.
Please see our action page for additional ways to speak up for protecting our nation’s heritage. Thank you for standing with America’s national monuments!
by jocelyn | Jul 11, 2018 | Uncategorized
In June, veterans and youth with Soul River Inc. embarked on a cross-cultural science expedition to Bears Ears National Monument and the surrounding community.
Upon arrival to the Navajo Nation, the Oljato Veterans Organization welcomed Soul River Inc. veterans into the community celebration to participate in the raising of the colors: “We stood together in this moment of emotional and life transforming experience as we marched together with Navajo veterans. We stand together as one from the battle to the community on to our land.”
Photo: Chad Brown
Participants shared their experiences and what they learned through journal entries:
“This is our critical moment. We have earned a great deal of healing on our journey, and now we must return the favor. Bears Ears has the ability to reground ourselves, have moments of serenity in nature, + to heal the broken bond between us and indigenous peoples.” – Riley Brooks
“Bears Ears National Monument is a place where community is created and where memories will last forever. It is a land that heals everyone who embraces its presence. It is a place that needs to be protected, not just for the people and the land, but for the community it creates. It is my job to advocate for the protection of Bears Ears and I will continue to do so until change happens.” – Kiran Weasel
“Because Bears Ears is being taken care of by Native tribes it is important for them to know and participate, or be included in all management or decision making of the land they live in, the land they take in so sacred and dear to their hearts and culture.” – Kenia Claros Martinez
“By welcoming us into the community, the Navajo Nation took the first steps towards what America needs as a nation: healing. I experienced their generosity first hand and I know that they are willing to share more of their culture with those who want to listen.” – Andre Tharp
“Anyone who is willing to open their heart and mind will be forever changed by the outstanding culture and history Bears Ears offers. Going on this trip with Soul River Inc. I really had no clue of what to expect. I never thought in a million years that I’d walk away with lifelong connections and a whole new view on life and my priorities.” – Ayanna Beaudoin
“I feel it is our responsibility to make sure people can have the same experience I did…Rather than destroying Bears Ears we should invite people with mental and emotional pain to come get healed like I and the vets did.” – Gabriel Bliss
“Native people hold a vast amount of knowledge about this land as well as how to care for it properly…Their love for this land extends to everything that lives off of it. We have nothing to fear if all we want is harmony and health.” – Sofina Gilbert
“In a sweat lodge I participated in, a Navajo woman prayed for Bears Ears and for Donald Trump. She prayed he could just pause for a moment and think, clear his head and really think about what he is doing. How powerful is that, her praying for the person she is fighting against?” – McKenna Erickson
To stand with Bears Ears and learn more, visit:
Monuments For All Action Page
Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition
Utah Diné Bikéyah
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