On unsound advice from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, last December President Donald Trump illegally slashed over 1.1 million acres from Bears Ears National Monument, shrinking the monument by 85 percent.
In so doing he said, “Some people think that the natural resources of Utah should be controlled by a small handful of very distant bureaucrats located in Washington … [and that] this very historic action will reverse federal overreach and restore the rights of this land to your citizens. The families and communities of Utah know and love this land the best, and you know the best how to take care of your land.”
Supporters of this unprecedented reduction of a national monument thanked the president for listening to “local voices.” But which voices?
Trump’s proclamation reducing Bears Ears kept intact President Barack Obama’s direction to establish an advisory committee to provide for “maximum public involvement” in the development of the monument’s management plan. The role of the advisory committee is to provide information and advice to land managers regarding the development of a monument management plan and the subsequent management of the monument. Importantly, these proclamations required the advisory committee to consist of a “fair and balanced representation of interested stakeholders” including “recreational users.”
As of now, this advisory council has not been convened, calling into question what local voices this administration is hoping to hear from.
I have lived in southern Utah for 25 years and have been climbing at Indian Creek and hiking around Cedar Mesa — both in Bears Ears — for just as long. I was an early board member of the Friends of Indian Creek, which works to protect and steward that landscape, and currently I serve on the board of the Friends of Cedar Mesa, which works to provide stewardship to ensure all the public lands of San Juan County, with all their cultural and natural values, are respected and protected.
Local Utahns have a lot to offer toward the planning and managing of the Trump administration’s version of Bears Ears National Monument because of our expertise in the area and our track record of caring for this special place.
Unfortunately, ignoring local voices is standard practice for Zinke. He failed to listen to small businesses based near the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument about the economic benefits derived from that protected area. At Bears Ears, American Indian tribes pleaded with Zinke to protect sacred sites and unique landscapes. Instead, Zinke has prioritized energy development on public lands over cultural conservation time and time again, falling down on his commitment to American Indians to be their “champion.”
The hypocrisy is frankly stunning. By disengaging the public from decisions affecting their local public lands, Zinke is accomplishing exactly what he preaches against. He says doesn’t want Washington, D.C., to be the place where all the decisions are made, that he wants his agencies to be more responsive to local needs. He recently told a Senate committee that “public land deserves public input.” But so far, this administration’s actions have spoken far louder than their words.
Failing to create the advisory committee for Bears Ears is not only a missed opportunity, but also a broken promise at the heart of the justification for diminishing Bears Ears. Right now it seems that top-down management from “distant bureaucrats in Washington” will rule the day.
Greg Child
Greg Child is a climber and author living in Castle Valley who has climbed Everest and K2 but prefers living in southeastern Utah.