Bears Ears National Monument
Date: 09/27/2019
State: UT
Issue: Wild Lands
Partners: Center for Biological Diversity, Bears Ears Partnership, Grand Canyon Trust, Inter-Tribal Coalition, Natural Resource Defense Council, Patagonia, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Utah Diné Bikéyah
Mission
Flights with Friends of Cedar Mesa and governors of multiple Pueblo communities throughout the Southwest gave leaders an aerial tour of Bears Ears National Monument and the new boundaries since the monument was rescinded. Flights helped educate leaders and build relationships in the united front to protecting the original Bears Ears landscape.
The 1.35 million acre Bears Ears National Monument was proclaimed by President Obama on Dec. 28, 2016 after years of extensive inventory, input and collaboration led by the Native American tribes who value the landscape as sacred.
The Trump administration shrunk Bears Ears National Monument to 220,000 acres from 1.35 million against the wishes of the tribes and millions of citizens who commented on the monument review.
The legality of this move is currently the subject of ongoing legal challenges. The BLM hastily drafted new management plans that leave many cultural resources at risk and could weaken requirements for meaningful involvement with the tribes. EcoFlight and our partners are committed to fighting efforts to permanently reduce or rescind the monument protections and we applaud the recent decision by San Juan County to withdraw previous support for the president's move.
