Our new Interior Secretary Deb Haaland toured southeast Utah recently to learn more about Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. She visited with Native American groups, Bureau of Land Management employees and Utah politicians. She even took time to visit the Bears Ears Education Center in Bluff run by local environmentalists, and to view petroglyphs on the banks of the nearby San Juan River.
Contrast this with the visit to the area in 2017 by Ryan Zinke, then Interior Secretary. Zinke spent under two hours meeting with tribal leaders and environmentalists who supported the existing monuments. He spent the rest of his time with a group of Utah politicians who had already signed a resolution asking Trump to rescind the monument. Not too long after that, he resigned his office under a cloud of ethics investigations.
I’m sorry to bring up bad memories, but I think it is important to remember that the forces dead-set against protecting public lands are still as strong as ever. Don’t forget that Phil Lyman, who was pardoned by Trump over his trespass conviction, is now a Utah state representative.
I can remember the emotion I felt when Obama designated Bears Ears a national monument. Don’t tell anybody, but I actually got choked up, maybe even a tear or two.
Unfortunately, I also remember the dark cloud and anger that came over me when Trump, cheered on by many in the Utah delegation, smugly signed the proclamation that reduced the monuments to a fraction of their original size.
Thankfully, Secretary Haaland truly cares about the monuments and the life, present and past, that they nurture. Please contact her and let her know that you support the urgent reinstatement of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.
Harry Holland, Castle Valley