Trump Reduces Bears Ears National Monument in Utah

Bears Ears National Monument, located in San Juan County in southeastern Utah, exhibits Native American cliff dwellings, many different hikes leading to phenomenal views, and various forest paths that visitors can walk through. The national monument was announced in December 2016 by former President Barack Obama, and was a total of 1.35 million acres of protected land. In early December of 2017, President Donald Trump decided to reduce 85% of the land, creating two separate parks, making it only 201,876 acres. In addition, Bill Clinton in 1996 had protected the Grand-Staircase Escalante National Monument, which President Trump has also now reduced by 45%.

President Trump signed an executive order in April 2017, allowing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to inspect any monument that is over 100,000 acres and has been established within the last 21 years. Trump’s motive was to “[…] end these abuses and return control to the people, the people of all of the states, the people of the United States.” The reason people wanted to make this change is because the designation of the land in the first place was perceived as a federal overreach. Also, with the reduction of various federal owned monuments, the opportunity of logging and mining for natural resources such as oil and coal arises. This was a main rationale for creating the executive order.  Reducing Bears Ears opens many new doors for other uses for the land. In addition, the monument has been thoroughly photographed. The looks of the land are preserved digitally, so its culture won’t be completely lost.

However, there is a lot of backlash from people around the nation due to these land cuts and policy changes. Under the Antiquities Act, created in 1906, the President is able to turn public land into national monuments that are protected from development. With this authority, it is not an overreach to designate national land as protected by the federal government. Taking away lands that were rightfully designated as national monuments has prompted outrage amongst Americans. Many protests have been organized in response to Trump’s decision. In addition, there have been a multitude of organizations and companies filing lawsuits against Trump. Patagonia, an outdoor clothing company, is one example. The CEO, Rose Marcio, stated, “The administration’s unlawful actions betray our shared responsibility to protect iconic places for future generations and represent the largest elimination of protected land in American history.”

According to the Utah Department of Natural Resources (DNR), there have been 287 oil and gas wells drilled in the Bears Ears National Monument boundary, but are no longer commissioned. There is not a lot of energy sources available in the monument since most of it actually resides outside the boundaries. A main point for this reduction was to increase accessibility to natural resources, but it is not very applicable seeing as there are a dwindling amount of these resources available within this land.

Culture and wildlife is another concern. While of course there are pictures of the monument, it does not equate to what visitors can experience in person. As Jeffrey Duda, someone familiar with the area, said, “Our natural treasures like National Parks, Wilderness Areas, and Wild and Scenic Rivers are incredibly important. Humans need nature for life – clean air and clean water – but also we need to experience nature for our well being.” Taking away this park is just a start to possible reductions in the future. President Trump has already reduced more public land than any other President in American history in his short time in office. What is to say that he won’t reduce even more land in the future? As Craig Patterson, former park ranger at Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, and Mount Rainier, put it, “It’s not just Bears Ears being affected, but it is the precedence of it. It’s a line that has been crossed and now other areas like this are all in the realm of possibility to being reduced.”

Not only that, but Native American cliff dwellings and other important cultural aspects will be lost. As a society, people historically have had trouble preserving history and connecting to important roots. By taking away part of this National Monument, it will only go to further the ignorant disconnect people have with nature.  Five Native American tribes, the Navajo, Ute, Utah Mountain Ute, Hopi, and Zuni, have ties to Bears Ears. They all have a very important role in the environment, and they bring their own unique, valuable culture to the region. That will all be lost and diminished with the reduction of land.

There will be many repercussions to the decision that was made to reduce the national land. There will be a mix of both positive and negatives outcomes, but as Aldo Leopold once said, “Wilderness is a resource which can shrink, but not grow.”

Sources and Links:

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900005325/two-more-lawsuits-filed-over-trump-order-breaking-up-bears-ears-national-monument.htmlhttps://

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/08/climate/bears-ears-monument-trump.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/10/27/trump-says-he-will-shrink-bears-ears-national-monument-a-sacred-tribal-site-in utah/utm_term=.18a24595aa1d

https://naturalresources.utah.gov/dnr-newsfeed/very-little-energy-potential-within-bears-ears-national-monumenthttps://

www.nytimes.com/2017/04/26/climate/antiquities-act-federal-lands-donald-trump.html