On Sunday, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke stood in front of a small, windowless conference room in Salt Lake City next to one of the long-standing generals of the Sagebrush Rebellion, Senator Orrin Hatch. He was there to kick off a listening tour in response to President Trump’s recently signed executive order, which calls on the secretary to make sure any national monument in the United States larger than 100,000 acres created since 1996 gets a "fair hearing,” as Zinke put it. The Utah monuments that bookend the timeframe of Trump’s EO review, Grand Staircase–Escalante and Bears Ears, are located just a few hours to the south of where Zinke stood: millions of acres of land sacred to Native Americans that contain treasured archaeological sites, redrock, sagebrush, dark night skies, breathtaking ecological diversity, and miles of open vistas. They also happen to be objects of contempt for Utah’s Republican leadership.

Zinke began his remarks by reminding the assembled group of media that the executive order does not strip any existing national monument of their designation. He reiterated that neither he nor President Trump supported the transfer or sale of public lands, and that there was no predetermined outcome for the process triggered by Trump’s executive order. He affirmed that he was a “firm believer in NEPA [the National Environmental Policy Act, a critical environmental permitting process]” and saw the NEPA process as an important tool to protect clean air and water (his remarks happened to fall on the same day the Trump administration removed five scientists from a prominent EPA advisory board).

Zinke then turned to the importance of the monument-designation process as an effective tool to save and preserve our nation’s shared cultural and natural treasures. He referenced the first national monument, Wyoming’s Devils Tower—a Native American holy site like Bears Ears. Zinke argued that, even at just 1,200 acres, Devils Tower was controversial for its size at the time, no doubt drawing a stiff contrast to the vast, 1.35 million acres now under protection at Bears Ears.

The beauty of Bears Ears did not escape him, he made clear. Zinke spoke about the importance of considering tribal sovereignty in any decision-making, and how excited he was to again be riding a horse through Bears Ears to experience it firsthand—something he hadn’t done since his first day as the secretary when, D.C. traffic be damned, he rode a horse to work.

Federal lands belong to all of America, he said—not just the purview of those who happen to neighbor their borders; each voice, whether local or far away, should weigh equally in the final judgement (though he did acknowledge that the Department of Interior needed to rebuild its relationship with some local communities that have lost trust in the agency, specifically because they feel their voices had not been heard).

In one response about the importance of access to public lands, Zinke talked about the benefits of time outdoors. He even spent time discussing his vision of an interconnected system of public lands to increase access and opportunities for people to get outside. 

It all sounded great. Zinke is a good public speaker. He comes off as warm, understanding, compassionate, and the type of guy that will hold fast to his word.

He and I have both served our country in uniform; however different our jobs, we have some shared values. I wanted to believe him.

But then, the real listening tour got underway—one in which Zinke seemingly had ears for one point of view.

While in Utah, Zinke only met with a carefully curated batch of interest groups. Pro-monument supporters were sidelined or chastised when they confronted Zinke. Worse, important pro-monument stakeholders—even the chamber of commerce for the two rural communities most heavily impacted by the monuments, Boulder-Escalante—were denied meetings, along with military veterans and pro-monument Native American community organizations.

Zinke is taking public comment for 15 days to potentially override years of consultation. He continues to carry the message that there is no support for Bears Ears. He says there is no preconceived outcome, but after meeting with special-interest groups, and being shepherded through our state with the Republican delegation—which likely hasn’t told him that the boundaries of Bears Ears closely match their own Public Lands Initiative proposal—it sure feels like he already has an outcome in mind. 

I want him to be my guy. I want to believe him, but I just can't. 

When the online comment period opens up for these monuments later this month, the public needs to speak up. People need to make sure that Secretary Zinke listens to all our voices as he embarks on his listening tour—about why we need, love, and want our existing monuments; about how they fit, in his own words, “the Muir model.” 

While you wait for the comment period to open up, you can take immediate action on Bears Ears by signing our online petition here or here.

Finally, get in touch with Senator Hatch. Prior to the media briefing on Sunday, he told Native Americans they would not be able to do what they wanted on the land if it stayed as a monument. When pressed on what specifically the Native American community could not do, he said he did not have time for the answer, and to “take my word” for it. Give him a phone call, send a postcard, fax, or email, and ask him to clarify what he meant. 

Here’s how to get in touch with Senator Hatch:

Washington, D.C. Office

104 Hart Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510
Tel: (202) 224-5251
Fax: (202) 224-6331

Cedar City Office

77 N. Main St.
Suite 112
Cedar City, UT 84720
Tel: (435) 586-8435
Fax: (435) 586-2147

Ogden Office

1006 Federal Building
324 25th Street
Ogden, UT 84401
Tel: (801) 625-5672
Fax: (801) 394-4503

Provo Office

51 S. University Ave.
Suite 320
Provo, UT 84601
Tel: (801) 375-7881
Fax: (801) 374-5005

Salt Lake City Office

8402 Federal Building

125 South State St.
Salt Lake City, UT 84138
Tel: (801) 524-4380
Fax: (801) 524-4379

St. George Office

Federal Building
196 East Tabernacle, Room 14
St. George, UT 84770
Tel: (435) 634-1795
Fax: (435) 634-1796