Energy developers and uranium miners are eyeing parts of what once was Bears Ears National Monument, even as President Joe Biden is reviewing the monument for expansion.
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Tribes Launch Six-Figure Ad Campaign Calling for Restoration and Expansion of Bears Ears National Monument (Image Credit (Bureau of Land Management/flickr))
BEARS EARS NATIONAL MONUMENT, May 24, 2021 - The Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition launched a six-figure ad campaign on Sunday calling on President Biden to take immediate action to restore and expand Bears Ears National Monument. My bloodline and culture comes from Bears Ears, my clan migrated through that area. If your eyes are open, the evidence is everywhere. Former President Trump wanted to diminish our connection to Bears Ears but President Biden has the power to set the record straight. We trust him to get this right. –
In late April, at the site known as Birthing Rock near Moab, Utah, vandals defaced thousand-year-old petroglyphs, scrawling the words “white power” and other obscene graffiti, including an ejaculating penis, across the red sandstone. Only one of the boulder’s four petroglyph panels remained unscathed. The vandalism came just a few weeks after a rock climber bolted climbing routes over petroglyphs near the Sunshine Slabs, north of Utah’s Arches National Park.
“I think people view these (incidents) as a victimless crime, and they are not.”
The recent acts of vandalism are a reminder of the need for greater protection and more education about public lands, Indigenous archaeologists say. “A lot of people have no clue about contemporary Indigenous peoples and their connection to archaeological resources,” Ashleigh Thompson (Red Lake Ojibwe), a doctoral candidate in archaeology at University of Arizona and an avid rock climber, said. “I think people view these (inci
Scott Groene: Utah delegation can still advance legislation after monuments are restored
History shows no reason to believe that Congress will ever settle the matter of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Excalante
(Rick Bowmer | AP, pool) 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.
By Scott Groene | Special to The Tribune
| April 14, 2021, 5:30 p.m.
Utah’s governor and congressional delegation are trying to block President Joe Biden from returning the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments to their original legal status. Instead, they claim under the rubric of “political certainty” that the monuments should be left unprotected for untold years while Utah politicians work out legislation.