For the first time, a formal partnership between federal land agencies and tribal governments has been arranged so both governments can help manage a controversial Utah site. The five governments involved in the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition have committed to co-managing Bears Ears National Monument with the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
On March 8, the government released the proposed plan, which detailed several approaches to how this management could be implemented and analyzed many factors contributing to their decision. Some of these issues included potential impacts on the natural environment like water resources, air quality and conservation as well as the built environment, such as archaeological sights and recreation use and visitor services.
This draft names alternative E as the preferred plan moving forward. In comparison to the other four options, this plan gives the greatest amount of consideration to the tribes and “is meant to emphasize resource protection and the use of Traditional Indigenous Knowledge and perspectives on the stewardship of the Bears Ears landscape.”
Grazing rights, vehicle usage and recreational shooting are some of the considerations that vary between the alternatives. A detailed description of each can be found in section 2.4 of the draft. 
The Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition is made up of the Hopi Tribe, the Navajo Nation, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, and the Pueblo of Zuni, all of which have a sacred connection to the land where the twin buttes of Bears Ears stand. Section 3.3.3 features a summary of each tribe’s connection to the area and some of the individual histories that have contributed to their cultural attachment.
Traditional Indigenous Knowledge and the perspectives of the tribes have been central to this decision to try co-management for the first time. “According to Indigenous cultures, cultural resources and natural resources are not separate categories,” the draft explains. “An individual depends on other living plants, animals, and the land for subsistence and to maintain cultural and religious ties to certain places, like BENM [Bears Ears National Monument], with special value to Tribal Nations; thus, the natural resources gathered, hunted, prayed to, and walked on become cultural resources.”
Although co-management has been in the works for several years, Bears Ears National Monument has been a point of political contention since it was established in 2016. The Native American Rights Fund has detailed the history of the fight for designation of the area as protected land.
Former President Barack Obama established Bears Ears as a national monument under the Antiquities Act, which has allowed presidents to establish national monuments since its passage in 1906. Under this designation, 1.35 million acres of land was protected.
In 2017, Former President Donald Trump attempted to remove 1.1 million acres of the original land from federal protection, a power which is reserved for Congress alone. This, along with the resulting vandalism and actions from companies looking to mine on the land, prompted a 2018 lawsuit from NARF, representing the five tribes. Litigation ensued over the next few years.
In 2021, President Joe Biden reestablished the original boundaries set in 2016, adding in his proclamation, “Few national monuments more clearly meet the Antiquities Act’s criteria for protection than the Bears Ears Buttes and surrounding areas.”
After many years of deliberation, this co-management agreement is a step toward protecting not only the land itself but its cultural significance to the tribes who have ancestral ties to the Bears Ears area.
These agencies invite public comment for the following 90 days after its release. Five in-person and two virtual meetings will be held for those wishing to comment. Dates, times and locations can be found on the BLM website.
Author: Lily Brunson
Photographer: Michelle Turner
Editor: Lily Brunson
outdoors@suunews.net
