Bears Ears National Monument

Although this very controversial subject will affect you and all future generations there is limited coverage of the topic. We are presenting quotes from several views here with links to the full article. You may add your comments at the bottom of this article. Jim Allen, Publisher

The New York Times

Bears Ears Is Here to Stay - This will always be Native land. But the protections President Trump is gutting are sorely needed. - Bears Ears, first and foremost, is indigenous land. By ANGELO BACA DEC. 8, 2017

It is a place essential to the physical, spiritual and cultural identity of the Hopi, Zuni, Ute and Navajo Nations. Before the advent of European settlers in the West, these peoples were here. They lived and flourished in the curvilinear canyons of red and orange labyrinthine rock in what is now Utah. People made their homes and offered their prayers around the green areas of the high elevations near the twin buttes that lend the area its name.

This is also land for which hard-fought protections were won just recently. It was designated a national monument in 2016 after a long campaign of indigenous leadership, advocacy and the assertion of tribal sovereignty. But on Monday, the Trump administration Full Story https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/08/opinion/bears-ears-monument.html

Don McDowell

Trump Sends Land Sovereignty Back To Utah - Shrinks 2,000,000 acres of Bears Ears, Grand Staircase Monuments

12/4/17: WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Paul A. Gosar D.D.S. (AZ-04), House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop (UT-01), Chief Defense and Interior Officer Chris Stewart (UT-02), Western Caucus Members Raúl Labrador (ID-01), Andy Biggs (AZ-05), Doug Lamborn (CO-05) and Tom Emmer (MN-06), and Congressman John Curtis (UT-03) issued statements following President Trump’s announcement of modifications to the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante Monuments:

Congressman Gosar said, “Today’s announcement by President Trump shows that he and Secretary Zinke are committed to smart, restrained and proper application of the Antiquities Act. Full Story https://www.shakerattleandtroll.com/index.php/2017/12/10/trump-sends-land-sovereignty-back-utah/

NY Daily News

Uranium company lobbied Trump administration before Bears Ears decision

A uranium company hoping for easier access to deposits of the radioactive ore petitioned the Trump administration to shrink the size of an Obama-era national monument, according to reports.

Officials from Energy Fuels Resources wrote to the Department of the Interior and met with aides of Secretary Ryan Zinke before he recommended President Trump scale back the size of the monument, the Washington Post reported on Saturday. Full Story http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/uranium-company-lobbied-trump-admin-bears-ears-decision-article-1.3687504

Congressional Western Caucus

TRUMP SENDS LAND SOVEREIGNTY BACK TO UTAH - Shrinks 2,000,000 acres of Bears Ears, Grand Staircase Monuments

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Paul A. Gosar D.D.S. (AZ-04), House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop (UT-01), Chief Defense and Interior Officer Chris Stewart (UT-02), Western Caucus Members Raúl Labrador (ID-01), Andy Biggs (AZ-05), Doug Lamborn (CO-05) and Tom Emmer (MN-06), and Congressman John Curtis (UT-03) issued statements following President Trump's announcement of modifications to the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante Monuments:

Congressman Gosar said, "Today's announcement by President Trump shows that he and Secretary Zinke are committed to smart, restrained and proper application of the Antiquities Act. His decision takes power from unaccountable Washington bureaucrats doing the dirty work of special-interest groups and gives it back to the people where it belongs. By shrinking the national monument footprint in Utah by more than two million acres, President Trump is correcting past overreach by previous presidents, supporting the multiple-use doctrine for public lands required by federal law and giving local communities a voice by restoring traditional uses. And unlike past Presidents, President Trump heard the people, listened closely Full Story

https://westerncaucus.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1343