The reduction of the size of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments violates the sovereignty of the tribes of the region who have the right to determine the future of their ancestral homelands.
This administration continues to put mining, logging, and fossil fuel interests ahead of Tribal rights and the protection of our federal lands. Our public lands, national parks, and national monuments are not there for the taking. They are not to be used to pay down the national debt. Again, this administration is taking actions that violate our Tribal rights and treaties. As the ancestral lands of our peoples, we have the right to determine how these lands are managed and used.
Several Tribal Nations, including the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Zuni Tribe, and Ute Indian Tribe of Uintah and Ouray Reservation have deep cultural ties to Bears Ears. It is the site of cultural activities, ceremonies, and food and medicine gathering. Through the Bear Ears Inter-Tribal Commission, these Tribal Nations helped secure permanent protections for this land and worked alongside federal land managers to develop a strong Resource Management Plan. That plan reflects years of Tribal consultation and collaboration and demonstrates how Indigenous knowledge and western science can work together. Bears Ears continues to provide a reconnection to the natural world for all who visit.
President Trump’s plans for fast-track development of public lands violates federal laws and the rights of Tribes. All public lands are Indigenous homelands, and sovereign nations have the right to make decisions about developments impacting their lands. Federal laws have been passed in past decades to protect land and water. Our treaties and agreements and federal laws demand a process for public oversight and meaningful consultation and informed consent for Tribal Nations. There should be no decisions made about Tribal lands without the input and consent of Tribes and the public.
In recent years, we have seen unprecedented progress in Tribal-federal co-management of public lands. The Bears Ears National Monument, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni, and Chuckwalla National Monuments are successful partnerships to protect and steward public lands for the benefit of all, but these areas are on the chopping block and at risk of destruction by mining and resource extraction. Trump’s actions to reduce National Monuments sets back decades of progress toward honoring our ancestral homelands and managing our public lands to ensure they endure for generations to come for all.