Amy Dominguez, Amy.Dominguez@sierraclub.org
UTAH – On Friday, March 8, 2024, five Tribal Nations including the Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Zuni Tribe, Hopi Tribe, and the Navajo Nation, collaborated with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service to release the Draft Resource Management Plan for the Bears Ears National Monument. The plan is the first of its kind that incorporates traditional Indigenous knowledge, while balancing public access and use of the monument with protecting its cultural and natural resources.
The plan was carefully crafted after years of partnership between the five Tribal Nations that comprise the Bears Ears Commission, and federal agencies, demonstrating a necessary shift in the way public lands should be managed. The Bears Ears National Monument is culturally significant, and its safeguarding is essential to Tribal history, as well as for biodiversity and responsible access.
In 2016, the Obama Administration proclaimed the Bears Ears National Monument, creating the Bears Ears Commission to guide its management. But after Donald Trump was elected President, the monument’s original acreage was cut. In 2021 President Biden restored the Monument to its original size, kickstarting a process for a new management plan to be developed.
The Draft Plan’s release kicks off a 90-day public comment period after which the BLM will review comments to integrate them into a final resource management plan and environmental impact statement. The BLM and Forest Service will also facilitate public meetings for more information.
“We celebrate and affirm the work of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition,” said Sierra Club Utah Chapter Director, Luis Miranda. “Indigenous perspectives are critically important to the protection of public lands, and must be incorporated into land management practices as Indigenous peoples successfully stewarded these lands and resources for thousands of years. We encourage all Utahns to join public meetings and engage in public comment to support the protection of Bears Ears National Monument.”
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