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Moon House is an archaeological site on Cedar Mesa. It is the only site in Bears Ears National Monument that requires a permit.
This year is shaping up to be one of the busiest ever for visitation in and around Bears Ears National Monument, according to advocates who say tourism is wreaking havoc on the fragile landscape.
Tourism in the area has been increasing for over a decade, said Josh Ewing. He’s the executive director of Friends of Cedar Mesa, a nonprofit group that works to protect archaeological sites in and around Bears Ears.
“With the advent of social media, and in particular photo sites like Instagram, we started seeing visitation increase significantly,” Ewing said “We estimated that there was a huge increase, maybe as much as a 300% increase, just between 2010 and 2015.”
Interior Department becomes battlefield in fight over response to climate change Updated: 2 days ago Published 2 days ago
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., talks with Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., before the start of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources hearing on her nomination to be Interior Secretary, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Graeme Jennings/Pool via AP)
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Print article WASHINGTON - In the weeks after President Joe Biden’s inauguration, as the oil industry was facing a far less welcoming White House, a ConocoPhillips executive went pheasant hunting with the Democratic senator poised to wield tremendous power in an evenly divided Congress.
Interior secretary steps into Utah public lands tug-of-war durangoherald.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from durangoherald.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland tours near ancient dwellings along the Butler Wash trail during a visit to Bears Ears National Monument Thursday, April 8, 2021, near Blanding, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
For decades, a public lands tug-of-war has played out over a vast expanse of southern Utah where red rocks reveal petroglyphs and cliff dwellings and distinctive twin buttes bulge from a grassy valley.
A string of U.S. officials has heard from those who advocate for broadening national monuments to protect the area’s many archaeological and cultural sites, considered sacred to surrounding tribes, and those who fiercely oppose what they see as federal overreach.