Friends of Cedar Mesa is embarking on a new chapter to expand the size, scope, programming and offerings of the Bears Ears Education Center, our homebase in Bluff, Utah.
As most of you probably know, we’re seeing more and more visitors coming to Bears Ears National Monument. As we at FCM think about how we can assist the Tribes, agencies, and other groups active in the protection of Bears Ears, we know that education is the key. To expand our educational reach, we need to expand several of our programs: being able to interact with the public, educating them on how to visit with respect, hosting them at our Bears Ears Education Center, and having staff to do the heavy lifting is essential for the future of the monument and the greater Bears Ears region.
Four years ago, we came together to transform an old uranium miner’s bar into the Bears Ears Education Center. Since then, we’ve welcomed thousands of visitors, gathered with hundreds of you for community events, hosted dozens of school groups, joined with Tribal partners for gatherings and created a home-base for all who love and find connection to this incredible landscape.
Purchasing and renovating the property next door is a big step forward in expanding our courtyard and outdoor space – all to support our growing education and community programs, including:
- Expanding the BEEC’s outdoor classroom with new paleontology and geology exhibits, a tribally-led Indigenous connections exhibit and upgrades to our Native Plant Garden;
- Utilizing the Monument as an outdoor classroom and growing our education program to provide STEM, standards-based curriculum for area schools, Pueblos and Indigenous youth groups;
- Providing much-needed and extremely hard-to-come-by affordable housing and mobile hook-ups for staff and our dedicated volunteers;
- Growing our community offerings and ability to host larger groups and gatherings with indigenous partners with a commercial kitchen (while taking some pressure off Bluff’s very limited food service);
- Increasing our energy efficiency and sustainability by adding solar to our rooftops;
- And, adding more visible signage and necessary parking for Education Center events and upgrading office space for our growing team.
- In addition to expanding our education programs, we’ll also be adding much-needed housing and mobile hook-ups for our dedicated volunteers, partners and seasonal staff.
It’s a big step. A big change. We’re talking about becoming a leader in education for the region– a leader in education for the Monument, as there’s not currently programming just for the Monument. It will go a long way to promote science education, conservation, and Visit with Respect principles. There’s a lot we can accomplish with this ever-expanding program.
Thank you for being as excited as we are about the future of the Bears Ears Education Center! Together we will grow our field, education and Visit with Respect programs to serve more people, have a bigger presence for visitors to the area and increase our impact for the greater Bears Ears landscape. We look forward to keeping you updated on our progress and welcoming you to our expanded home-base when it is complete next year!