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78-627: Bears Ears National Monument is a United States national monument located in San Juan County in southeastern Utah , established by President Barack Obama by presidential proclamation on December 28, 2016. The monument protects 1,351,849 acres (2,112.264 sq mi; 5,470.74 km) of public land surrounding the Bears Ears —a pair of buttes —and the Indian Creek corridor rock climbing area. The Native American names for

156-585: A "pro bono basis as senior advisor" soon after its formation. Wilkinson had drafted the 1996 presidential proclamation creating the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument . In October 2015, the BEITC submitted a proposal to President Barack Obama , seeking the designation of 1,900,000 acres (770,000 ha) as a national monument which would include Cedar Mesa, Indian Creek , White Canyon , Abajo Mountains , Comb Ridge , Valley of

234-703: A Republican, stated that "By significantly restricting access to a large portion of public lands in Utah, the President weakens land management capabilities and fails to protect those the Antiquities Act intended to benefit", and announced that he planned a lawsuit regarding the issue. A lawsuit against the FBI and BLM for its "heavy-handed and overzealous" looting raid in 2009, was rejected in February 2017 but "remains

312-714: A better place to live, work, and visit". SUWA participated in negotiations with Bishop and Chaffetz and their team "to try and find a compromise that would provide lasting protection for Utah’s ... public lands". In 2014, the National Trust for Historic Preservation —in partnership with the All Pueblo Council of Governors, Friends of Cedar Mesa, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, the Conservation Lands Foundation, and others—added Bears Ears to its National Treasures program. In 2016,

390-417: A bill to "provide greater conservation, recreation, economic development and local management of Federal lands in Utah, and for other purposes". Bishop's UPLI draft bill provided protections for 1,100,000 acres (450,000 ha) through several smaller wilderness areas and two national conservation areas. According to a December 29, 2016, The New York Times article, Bishop, who is among those most critical of

468-413: A donation of lands acquired by John D. Rockefeller Jr. , for addition to Grand Teton National Park after Congress had declined to authorize this park expansion. Roosevelt's proclamation unleashed a storm of criticism about use of the Antiquities Act to circumvent Congress. A bill abolishing Jackson Hole National Monument passed Congress but was vetoed by Roosevelt, and Congressional and court challenges to

546-837: A fifth in the Atlantic Ocean, the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument . On June 24, 2016, Obama designated the Stonewall Inn and surrounding areas in Greenwich Village , New York as the Stonewall National Monument , the first national monument commemorating the movement for LGBT rights in the United States . Obama's establishments included several others recognizing civil rights history, including

624-499: A land management plan for the monument that is representative of each of the tribes interests. Each leader took the plan back to their respective tribal governments to get approval for the plan to move forward. Ecological resiliency is strongest in places that are the least disturbed and most biodiverse. Bears Ears is a resilient landscape. Navajo people have a term for such places of ecological rejuvenation: we call them Nahodishgish, or "places to be left alone." Robert S. McPherson, who

702-477: A major Alaska lands bill. Congress passed a revised version of the bill in 1980 incorporating most of these national monuments into national parks and preserves , but the act also curtailed further use of the proclamation authority in Alaska. Carter's 1978 proclamations included Misty Fjords and Admiralty Island National Monuments in the U.S. Forest Service and Becharof and Yukon Flats National Monuments in

780-555: A national monument, the Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition (BEITC) described the 1.9 million acres (7,700 km) on the southeastern Utah canyonlands Colorado Plateau as ancestral land. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) described the Bears Ears as "the most significant unprotected cultural landscape in the U.S." As early as 13,000 years ago, Clovis people , who are considered to be

858-606: A national monument. There is uncertainty about the authority for a president to completely rescind a monument designated under the Antiquities Act, as it has never been done before. In response, the outdoor clothing company Patagonia announced that it would not be attending the Outdoor Retailer Market in Salt Lake City in 2017 or subsequent years due to the Utah government's opposition to Bears Ears. Patagonia urged other retailers to join it in moving to

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936-695: A number of hiking trails, as well as views over the desert regions of Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park . The Monticello District is home the Manti–La Sal National Forest's only wilderness area , the Dark Canyon Wilderness , a vast, remote canyon area. The Manti–La Sal National Forest, a 1.4 million acre mountain range, occupies parts of central and southeastern Utah, as well as parts of Colorado. The La Sal Mountains are lush with lakes, pine, aspen and evergreen trees, wildlife, and recreation. An easy drive from Moab,

1014-497: A point of contention for people in [Blanding], many of whom are also frustrated by the creation of the nearby Bears Ears National Monument." Utah politicians, including Senator Mike Lee (R), as well as ranchers and business groups, strongly opposed the monument. In February 2017, Utah Governor Herbert signed a resolution passed by the Utah State Legislature asking Trump to rescind the designation of Bears Ears as

1092-525: A precedent for the use of the Antiquities Act to preserve large areas. Federal courts have since rejected every challenge to the president's use of Antiquities Act preservation authority, ruling that the law gives the president exclusive discretion over the determination of the size and nature of the objects protected. In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Katmai National Monument in Alaska , comprising more than 1,000,000 acres (4,000 km ). Katmai

1170-941: A small town on Bears Ears eastern boundary. In March 2009, when President Obama signed Utah Senator Bob Bennett ’s Washington County Lands Bill, "many counties throughout Utah requested inclusion in the next bill." Senator Bennett invited Native people in San Juan County, Utah to engage in discussions on public land management of Bears Ears. San Juan County includes parts of Canyonlands National Park , Glen Canyon National Recreation Area , Hovenweep National Monument , Manti-La Sal National Forest and all of Natural Bridges National Monument , Rainbow Bridge National Monument and Bears Ears National Monument. The "ancestral lands of Bears Ears lie outside reservation boundaries" but "hold special historical and spiritual significance for regional Native people". The Utah Tribal Leaders Association began regular discussions on land-use negotiations to "advance Native American interests on public lands". In 2010,

1248-474: A state that "values our industry and promotes public land conservation." On February 16, the Outdoor Retailer Market announced that, after talking to the governor, it would no longer schedule its annual trade show in Utah (as it has done for 20 years) due to the Utah government's opposition to Bears Ears National Monument. The Outdoor Retailer show has 50,000 visitors and generates $ 45 million in local spending annually. National Monument (United States) In

1326-760: Is co-managed by the Bureau of Land Management and United States Forest Service (through the Manti-La Sal National Forest ), along with a coalition of five local Native American tribes: the Navajo Nation , Hopi , Ute Mountain Ute , Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation , and the Pueblo of Zuni , all of which have ancestral ties to the region. The monument includes the area around

1404-691: Is in San Juan County—a county of 8,000-square-miles with a sparse population of 16,895. The federal government owns about 60% of the land in the county, and "Native Americans, the grandchildren of white settlers, corporations, environmentalists, the federal government" "jockey[..] to control it and its history". The monument's year 2016 territory makes up about 30% of the county's area. In a May 2017 interview in The New York Times 52-year-old James Adakai, "whose Navajo ancestors lived and hunted here for generations" described how, "We fought, we won

1482-478: Is known for his books on Navajos and the Four Corners, described depictions of lightning, arrowheads, wind, snakes, and bears in the rock formations. Prehistorically, Comb Ridge split an intensively used Ancient Puebloan homeland. It later had similar cultural—both spiritual and practical—significance to Utes, Paiutes, and Navajos and played a crucial role in the history of European American settlement. To tell

1560-648: Is more than 2,000 feet (610 m) above Utah state routes 95 and 261 . The monument includes the area around the Bears Ears formation and adjacent land to the southeast along the Comb Ridge formation, as well as Indian Creek Canyon to the northeast. The monument also includes the Valley of the Gods to the south, the western part of the Manti-La Sal National Forest's Monticello unit, and

1638-654: The Antiquities Act , opposes the designation of the Bears Ears National Monument. He supports repealing or shrinking the designation. Following the release of the draft, the BEITC pulled out of discussions citing that it was inadequate and a scaled-down version of their original plan. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance called Bishop's July 2016 UPLI the "worst piece of wilderness legislation that’s been introduced in Congress since passage of

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1716-482: The Antiquities Act of 1906 which gave presidents the power "to create national monuments — a kind of second-tier national park—when federal land contains objects that are threatened by outside forces or which are especially deserving of emergency protection" in "recognition of the enduring power and dignity emanating from the earliest societies on this continent." According to a 2017 article in The Atlantic ,

1794-488: The Basketmaker culture. The next period, the Pueblo I Period , began about AD 500, followed by Pueblo II and III. The "complex cultural history" of these early farmers is visible in the remains of "single family dwellings, granaries, kivas, towers, and large villages and roads linking them together". Along Comb Ridge ( Navajo : Tséyíkʼáán )—a one-mile wide and 80-mile long "dramatic geologic fold" with some of

1872-411: The Bureau of Land Management and "Tread Lightly!" launched their "Respect and Protect Campaign" in response to educate the public on protection of petroglyphs, pictograms, dinosaur bones and tracks, among many of the other fragile features in Bears Ears. On December 28, 2016, President Obama proclaimed the 1,351,849 acres (547,074 ha) Bears Ears National Monument, including the eponymous buttes and

1950-715: The Bureau of Land Management , and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (in the case of marine national monuments). Historically, some national monuments were managed by the War Department . President Theodore Roosevelt used the Antiquities Act to declare Devils Tower in Wyoming as the first U.S. national monument. The Antiquities Act authorized permits for legitimate archaeological investigations and penalties for taking or destroying antiquities without permission. Additionally, it authorized

2028-580: The César E. Chávez , Belmont–Paul Women's Equality , Freedom Riders , and Birmingham Civil Rights National Monuments . In December 2017, President Donald Trump substantially reduced the sizes of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monuments , removing protections on about 2.8 million acres of land where mining could resume. Three lawsuits challenged the legality of this action in federal court, and in October 2021, President Joe Biden reversed

2106-443: The Dark Canyon Wilderness to the north and west. Capped by Wingate Sandstone , the buttes and surroundings have long been held as sacred or significant by a number of the region's Native American tribes. Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings dated to more than 3,500 years ago have been discovered in the region, just some of the estimated 100,000 archaeological sites protected within the monument. The Comb Ridge monocline traverses

2184-577: The Fish and Wildlife Service , the first to be created outside of the National Park Service. The latter two became national wildlife refuges in 1980. The proclamation authority was not used again anywhere until 1996, when President Bill Clinton proclaimed the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument in Utah , after many years of unsuccessful advocacy by conservationists to protect parts of

2262-655: The Grand Canyon as a national monument. In response to Roosevelt's declaration of the Grand Canyon monument, a putative mining claimant sued in federal court, claiming that Roosevelt had overstepped the Antiquities Act authority by protecting an entire canyon. In 1920, the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Grand Canyon was indeed "an object of historic or scientific interest" and could be protected by proclamation, setting

2340-608: The Quail rock art panel , Big Westwater Ruin , the Sand Island Petroglyph Panel, and all but the last few miles of the Hole-in-the-Rock Trail . There are over 100,000 archaeological sites protected within the monument. The buttes and surroundings have long been held as sacred or significant by a number of the region's Native American tribes. In their proposal to have Bears Ears designated as

2418-779: The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) manages 289,000 acres. Of the 201,876 acres of the revised monument designation, the BLM oversaw approximately 169,289 acres and the USFS managed 32,587 acres. Some cultural special management areas remained within the reduced monument boundaries including the Newspaper Rock Petroglyph Panel and the Butler Wash Archaeological District National Register site, while other such areas that were no longer within monument boundaries including

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2496-492: The United States , a national monument is a protected area that can be created from any land owned or controlled by the federal government by proclamation of the president of the United States or an act of Congress. National monuments protect a wide variety of natural and historic resources, including sites of geologic, marine, archaeological, and cultural importance. The Antiquities Act of 1906 gives presidents

2574-719: The "act was explicitly passed to shield sites of historical or indigenous importance from pot hunting, in which Americans would loot artifacts from archaeological sites or abandoned dwellings and then sell them on the illicit market." Bears Ears has been looted and vandalized over a number of decades. One of the early catalysts for securing monument status for Bears Ears was the June 10, 2009, joint raid called Operation Cerberus Action conducted by FBI and U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) agents—"the nation’s largest investigation of archaeological and cultural artifact thefts"— in Blanding,

2652-600: The 1880s, John N. Macomb and Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden published maps and descriptions of the ridge. In 1880, 230 Mormon pioneers—the San Juan Mission expedition—followed the 200 mi (320 km)- Hole in the Rock Trail " down " Cedar Mesa to reach Bluff, Utah where they established the first Mormon settlement in Bluff in southeastern Utah. In the 1930s, the area that is now Bears Ears National Monument,

2730-627: The 1964 Wilderness Act." In 2016, the SUWA stated that the UPLI "promote[d] fossil fuel development, motorized recreation, and control of public resources by the State of Utah, and include[d] unprecedented provisions that would limit federal land managers’ ability to manage public lands for the protection of natural and cultural resources". The BEITC was not represented at the July 27, 2016, Senate field hearings on

2808-560: The American West. The reference in the act to "objects of ... scientific interest" enabled President Theodore Roosevelt to make a natural geological feature, Devils Tower in Wyoming , the first national monument three months later. Among the next three monuments he proclaimed in 1906 was Petrified Forest in Arizona , another natural feature. In 1908, Roosevelt used the act to proclaim more than 800,000 acres (3,200 km ) of

2886-433: The Bears Ears area and report incidents to the BLM, "tracked seven major incidents of looting in the Bears Ears area" in the first half of 2016, including an attempt to cut a "rock-art panel of a humanlike figure" from a cliff using a rock saw. There are legal trails for off-road vehicle use. Over the years "irresponsible off-road vehicle use" has damaged "both the natural landscape" and archaeological sites. On May 2, 2016,

2964-459: The Bears Ears area. They left behind "baskets, pottery, and weapons". These are the ancestors of the Hopi and Zuni people who "moved from foraging to farming about 3,500 years ago". Archaeological sites of prehistoric American southwestern culture dating 3,000 to 2,000 ago, contained a large number of baskets used for storage of corn and for burial. The pre- Ancestral Puebloans culture became known as

3042-421: The Bears Ears formation and adjacent land to the southeast along the Comb Ridge formation, as well as Indian Creek Canyon to the northeast. The monument also includes the Valley of the Gods to the south, the western part of the Manti-La Sal National Forest's Monticello unit, and the Dark Canyon Wilderness to the north and west. A proclamation issued by President Donald Trump on December 4, 2017, reduced

3120-504: The Gods , and the confluence of the San Juan and Colorado Rivers . The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance described how a "historic coalition of Native American Tribes" requested for the Bears Ears National Monument designation to "provide them with co-management authority to protect their ancestral homelands". On July 13, 2016, Utah Representative Rob Bishop unveiled a draft legislation entitled Utah Public Lands Initiative Act (UPLI),

3198-675: The Monticello Ranger District on the forest and the Dark Canyon Wilderness . Manti–La Sal National Forest is very popular for recreation. The northern district on the Wasatch Plateau is well known for the Skyline Drive, an unpaved road tracing along the backbone of the plateau. There is also an extensive ATV trail system in the forest there. The Moab District in the La Sal Mountains contains

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3276-547: The Monument designation would "lock him and his neighbors out of their own backyards". In December 2016, The Salt Lake Tribune reported that reactions to the monument's designation ranged "from scathing to celebratory" within the state. The designation was praised by the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition (BEITC) of Native Americans and environmentalists who had led the campaign to protect

3354-598: The National Trust included Bears Ears on its annual America's Most Endangered Places list. In July 2015, representatives from the Hopi, Navajo, Ute Mountain Ute, Pueblo of Zuni, and Ute Indian Tribe formed the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition (BEITC). Professor Charley Wilkinson from the University of Colorado , who had a "long history of working on the Colorado Plateau", began working with BEITC on

3432-996: The Pacific Ocean, the largest in the system: the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument , the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument , the Marianas Marine National Monument , and the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument . They are managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration overseeing the fisheries. President Barack Obama significantly expanded two of them and added

3510-692: The San Juan home of the Ancient Puebloans was "one of the most populous parts of North America." Between the "mid-1200s and 1285" "nearly 30,000 people disappeared" from the San Juan region and resettled in the Rio Grande area of New Mexico and Arizona . They suddenly walked away from their home, leaving behind cooking pots and baskets. A 2015 article in Nature called it "one of the greatest vanishing acts documented in human history" in which

3588-521: The San Juan region "became almost instantly a ghost land." A "monster drought" destabilized the region in the 1200s, and Mesa Verde became overcrowded. When a second drought hit in the late 1200s, the mass exodus began. Archaeologists and the Hopi "trace Hopi ancestry to the Ancestral Pueblo people, whom the Hopi call Hisatsinom meaning "our ancestors". "The Hopi had always considered the land occupied by their ancestors to be theirs: bounded by

3666-649: The Uintah and Ouray Reservation , and the Pueblo of Zuni —all of which have ancestral ties to the region. The establishment of a co-management program between the US Government and Tribal governments represents a monumental shift in government-tribe relations. The cooperation between tribes, tribal leaders and their governments, and the BLM/USFS with tribal governments represents a shift towards more authentic community consent-based land management. There are few other examples of co-management programs and Bears Ears has

3744-413: The Utah Diné Bikéyah (UDB) began working on a draft to be sent to "elected officials who were compiling a land-use bill". The UDB draft was endorsed by "all seven Chapter Houses in Utah." "Dine", which means "people", is the name Navajo people traditionally and historically use to refer to themselves. In 2010, Bennett became one of the most prominent targets of the Tea Party movement , on the grounds that he

3822-548: The Utah Diné Bikéyah (UDB)—Navajoland—officially formed as an organization. The UDB spent 2012 in meetings with the Navajo Nation , the largest reservation in the United States, extending into the states of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico and covering over 27,000 square miles (70,000 km). The Navajo Nation and San Juan County signed a Memorandum of Understanding to "identify conservation areas, set aside wilderness, propose mineral zones, and pursue economic development opportunities." In 2013, Utah Representative Rob Bishop announced

3900-418: The ancestors of most of the indigenous cultures of the Americas , hunted in Cedar Mesa , most of which is now included in the Bears Ears National Monument. Their tools, including the " Clovis points ", have been found there. One of the oldest known archaeological sites with Clovis tools in Utah is Lime Ridge Clovis Site. Following the Clovis people—at least 2,500 years ago— Ancestral Puebloans began to occupy

3978-572: The area. This incident became an "early flashpoint in the struggle over control of public lands in the western United States." Included among those arrested were a mathematics teacher, a brother of the county sheriff, and a prominent physician and his wife. Three people committed suicide following the raid. From May 2014 to April 2015, there were reports of more than a dozen cases of "serious looting," ranging from "small-scale theft to ancestral remains being tossed around when graves are plundered." A group of volunteers called Friends of Cedar Mesa, who patrol

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4056-505: The area. This was the first national monument managed by the Bureau of Land Management . This action was unpopular in Utah, and bills were introduced to further restrict the president's authority, none of which have been enacted. Most of the 16 national monuments created by President Clinton are managed not by the National Park Service, but by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the National Landscape Conservation System . President George W. Bush created four marine national monuments in

4134-405: The best-preserved cliff dwellings—Ancestral Puebloans lived in the "alcoves and grew corn" from about AD 900 to 1350. They relied heavily on domesticated corn, beans, and squash and a domesticated breed of turkey ( Meleagris gallopavo ). In the Pueblo II period, they "construct[ed] reservoirs, checkdams, and farming terraces in an effort to capture and conserve water for agricultural use." By c. 1250,

4212-485: The boundaries represented a "significant" concession to those who opposed the monument's designation. The monument has divided people in Blanding, Bluff and other Utah towns that skirt its border, and some members of families that are split on the issue have simply stopped speaking to each other. Signs reading "#rescindbearsears" stretch across gas stations and front lawns, which are strategically avoided by people who have taken to wearing pro-monument T-shirts. The monument

4290-408: The buttes have the same meaning in each of the languages represented in the region. The names are listed in the presidential proclamation as " Hoon’Naqvut , Shash Jáa [sic], Kwiyaghatʉ Nükavachi/Kwiyagatu Nukavachi , Ansh An Lashokdiwe "—all four mean "Bears Ears". The area within the monument is largely undeveloped and contains a wide array of historic, cultural and natural resources. The monument

4368-409: The century-year-old fight: the monument. And now we're up for another fight. ... And everybody is against us. The Utah congressional delegation, the governor, the State Legislature, the county. They have a different plan". Phil Lyman , whose great-grandfather arrived in Bears Ears in 1879, criticized the designation as a "land grab", "equating the monument designation to grand theft". Lyman was concerned

4446-462: The changes. The restoration of the monuments has been challenged in court in an attempt to attack the Antiquities Act. President Biden's proclamations establishing and expanding monuments often incorporated consultation with Native American tribes for management and planning. Manti-La Sal National Forest The La Sal Mountain loop road leads from Castle Valley to Geyser Pass and back down to Moab. Scenic Oowah Lake can be found within

4524-634: The early 16th century, Native American ancestral lands, now called Four Corners , was claimed by Spain as part of New Spain . In 1848, the land was purchased from Mexico as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo . In the 1860s the Navajos were forced to leave their ancestral lands in what became known as the long walk to Fort Sumner . However, many Utah Navajos were able to stay in southern Utah by hiding in canyons. The history of these Navajo "differs somewhat from that of other Navajos due to years of their interactions with Utes and Paiutes as well as Mormon and non-Mormon settlers, ranchers, and traders". In

4602-412: The eastern portion of the monument's Shash Jáa unit. The vast majority of the land within the national monument is federal land , though the State of Utah owns about 109,100 acres within the original monument's boundaries, while 12,600 acres are privately owned. These state-owned and privately owned lands are not part of the national monument, and will not be unless they are acquired in voluntary sales to

4680-418: The end of the day, there's only a certain place in this entire world, on earth, where we as indigenous peoples belong. And to be able to secure that, you can't put any money value on it." The establishment of the monument was also praised by the Mormon Environmental Stewardship Alliance. Republican leaders reacted to the designation of the monument with disappointment. Some researchers and observers said that it

4758-410: The establishment of the Utah Public Lands Initiative (UPLI). In a report prepared by Bishop, Jason Chaffetz , and Chris Stewart , the Utah Public Lands Initiative was described as a "locally driven initiative" to bring resolution to some of the "most challenging land disputes in the State of Utah". The initiative is "rooted in the belief that conservation and economic development can coexist to make Utah

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4836-408: The federal government. The designation of the monument does not affect the rights of landowners in or adjacent to the monument's boundaries to access or use their property. The monument is co-managed by the BLM and the USFS (the Monticello Unit of the Manti-La Sal National Forest ), along with a coalition of five local Native American tribes— Navajo , Hopi , Ute Mountain Ute , Ute Indian Tribe of

4914-425: The forest. In descending order of land area, the forest is located in parts of San Juan , Sanpete , Emery , Utah , Grand , Carbon , and Sevier counties in Utah, as well as Montrose , and Mesa counties in Colorado (Only about 2.1% of the forest lies in Colorado). Forest headquarters is located in Price, Utah . District offices are located in Ephraim , Ferron , Moab , Monticello , and Price. The forest

4992-497: The junction of the San Juan and Colorado rivers in the north, the Arizona-New Mexico state line in the east, the Mogollon and Zuni rim on the south and the San Francisco peaks to the west." The Zunis, who are descendants of both the Ancestral Pueblo and Mogollon, inhabited the deserts of Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and southern Colorado "for a very long time". They "started irrigated cultivation of corn" 3,000 years ago. They have been in their "present location for up to 4,000 years". In

5070-407: The land. Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye wrote that the president's decision will "protect this land as a national monument for future generations of Navajo people and for all Americans", while collaborative land management provisions "strengthened the relationship between our Navajo and American nations." Arizona state Representative Eric Descheenie , a member of the Navajo Nation, said "At

5148-400: The monument by 85% to 201,876 acres (315 sq mi; 817 km)—an unprecedented and exceptionally large reduction in the history of U.S. national monuments. President Joe Biden restored the territory removed by Trump on October 8, 2021. The monument is named Bears Ears for a pair of buttes that rise to elevations over 8,900 feet (2,700 m) and 9,000 feet (2,700 m), which

5226-402: The potential impacts of large-scale monument designations. Bears Ears has been regularly looted and vandalized for many years. In 2009, FBI and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) agents raided 16 homes in Blanding, following a two-year federal investigation and the indictment of 24 people for stealing, receiving or trying to sell Native American artifacts from the hundreds of archaeological sites in

5304-423: The potential to serve as a model for expanding this type of management. This program was made possible in large part by Indigenous activists advocating for their right to be involved in the decision-making process surrounding their ancestral lands. The Women of Bears Ears is one example of this advocacy. The Bears Ears Inter-Tribal coalition is made up from one member of each of the five tribes. The coalition worked on

5382-459: The power to proclaim national monuments by executive action. In contrast, national parks in the U.S. must be created by Congressional legislation. Some national monuments were first created by presidential action and later designated as national parks by congressional approval. The 134 national monuments are managed by several federal agencies: the National Park Service , United States Forest Service , United States Fish and Wildlife Service ,

5460-940: The president to proclaim "historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest" on federal lands as national monuments, "the limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected." Presidents have used the Antiquities Act's proclamation authority not only to create new national monuments but to enlarge existing ones. For example, Franklin D. Roosevelt significantly enlarged Dinosaur National Monument in 1938. Lyndon B. Johnson added Ellis Island to Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965, and Jimmy Carter made major additions to Glacier Bay and Katmai National Monuments in 1978. The Antiquities Act of 1906 resulted from concerns about protecting mostly prehistoric Native American ruins and artifacts (collectively termed "antiquities") on federal lands in

5538-457: The proclamation authority were mounted. In 1950, Congress finally incorporated most of the monument into Grand Teton National Park, but the act doing so barred further use of the proclamation authority in Wyoming except for areas of 5,000 acres or less. The most substantial use of the proclamation authority came in 1978, when President Jimmy Carter proclaimed 17 new national monuments in Alaska after Congress had adjourned without passing

5616-434: The story of this rock that is unlike any other rock in the world and the diverse people whose lives it has affected. The northern part of the monument borders Canyonlands National Park , and parts also border Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and surround Natural Bridges National Monument . Of the 1.35 million acres of the original monument designation, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversees 1.06 million acres and

5694-778: The surrounding landscapes, using his authority under the Antiquities Act to create national monuments by proclamation. The intertribal coalition had proposed to include several areas that did not make it into the final monument designation like the Abajo Mountains (also called the Blue Mountains); the lower reach of Allen Canyon; Black Mesa; a "large, arcing strip of land" next to the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area , surrounding Mancos Mesa; Raplee Anticline, and "most of Lime Ridge between Mexican Hat and Comb Ridge." Their omission from

5772-462: Was included in an unsuccessful proposal to establish an Escalante National Monument of 4,000,000 acres (1,600,000 ha). In 1943, western historian and novelist David Lavender (1910–2003) described the area in his book One Man's West as "a million and a quarter acres of staggering desolation between the San Juan and Colorado rivers, a vast triangle of land that even today is not completely mapped." In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt signed

5850-657: Was insufficiently conservative. Mitt Romney strongly endorsed Bennett but he was denied a place on the primary ballot by the 2010 Utah State Republican Convention. With Senator Bennett forced out of office, the draft was not submitted. In 2011, the UDB "engage[d] politically" representing Utah Navajos in the "early stages of the Public Lands Initiative process (PLI)". They published a book entitled Diné Bikéyah which compiled interviews with local elders and traditionalists that they had collected since 2010. In 2012,

5928-550: Was later enlarged to nearly 2,800,000 acres (11,000 km ) by subsequent Antiquities Act proclamations and for many years was the largest national park system unit. Petrified Forest , Grand Canyon , and Great Sand Dunes , among several other national parks , were also originally proclaimed as national monuments and later designated national parks by Congress. Substantial opposition did not materialize until 1943, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Jackson Hole National Monument in Wyoming . He did this to accept

6006-618: Was originally established as the Manti Forest Reserve by the United States General Land Office on May 29, 1903, with 584,640 acres (2,366.0 km ). On July 1, 1915 Nebo National Forest was added, and La Sal National Forest on November 11, 1949. On August 28, 1950, the name became Manti–La Sal National Forest. On December 28, 2016, President Barack Obama proclaimed the 1.35 million acre Bears Ears National Monument , which includes most of

6084-470: Was possible that president-elect Donald Trump or other Republicans might make an attempt to withdraw the designation and abolish the monument, though there was no clear legal mechanism for the president to do so unilaterally. Utah's Republican governor , Gary Herbert , said that he was "more than disappointed" and "deeply disturbed" by President Obama's unilateral decision. Congressman Jason Chaffetz reacted similarly. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes , also

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