Following Trump’s Executive Order to review over 20 years of national monument designations, the Department of Interior has announced a shockingly brief 15 day comment period on whether or not Bears Ears National Monument should continue to be protected.
These 1.35 million acres in southeastern Utah were proposed by an unprecedented coalition of five Tribal Nations. When President Obama designated Bears Ears in December, a tribal commission was created to provide input on the management of the monument as part of the protections. Now the fate of these lands is uncertain.
Bears Ears is vital to tribal communities across the Colorado Plateau as a place of subsistence, spirituality, and healing. These lands are home to tens of thousands of important cultural sites, including the cliff dwellings, villages, and rock art panels of the Ancestral Puebloan people. This magnificent landscape, rich in biodiversity and of critical importance to the Colorado River Basin upon which 40 million people rely, must remain pristine and accessible for generations to come.
There are several pending opportunities to voice your opinion to the federal government on protecting national parks and monuments. Bears Ears is on an accelerated comment period.
Please everyone get your comments in now by using the following comment link:
You will notice that the other 67 national monuments proposed for elimination get a full 60 day public comment period. Bears Ears National Monument is being singled out. When Secretary Zinke was in Utah two weeks ago seeking public comment he only met with coal mining companies, oil drilling companies and people who are opposed to any ownership of land by the federal government.
Bear's Ears was designated on Dec. 26, 2016 to protect one of the greatest natural areas in the southwest and in recognition of Native American culture in the Bears Ears region.
You may also tweet: @SecretaryZinke.