Tribes outline proposal for national monument in Utah

Posted by Jeff on Oct 20, 2015 @ 3:27 am in Conservation | 0 comments | Last modified: October 19, 2015

Tribal leaders in the Southwest have outlined a proposal to designate a section of southeastern Utah as a national monument, seeking to become partners with the federal government in managing their ancestral homeland.

The proposed Bears Ears National Monument is named for twin buttes that overlook Cedar Mesa. The 1.9 million-acre area would be bordered to the south by the Navajo Nation and to the west by Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Canyonlands National Park. The Manti-La Sal National Forest would make up part of the eastern boundary.

American Indian and conservation groups say the area is under constant threat by looting of cultural objects, off-road vehicle use and destruction of gravesites — affronts to tribes’ ancestors, they say, and impediments to communities’ ability to heal. A handful of tribes submitted a proposal to President Barack Obama’s administration asking that he use his power under the Antiquities Act to proclaim the area a national monument and honor the tribes’ inherent connection with the land.

“It is not a matter of romanticism or political correctness,” the proposal reads. “Native people always have, and we do now, conceive of and relate to the natural world in a different way than does the larger society.”

Republicans in Utah’s congressional delegation have opposed the use of the Antiquities Act, saying it would undermine a larger effort to resolve disputes over public lands in Utah. Eric Descheenie, co-chairman of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, said the tribes’ views on the land being a source of healing have been overlooked in that discussion.

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