For the last three months, the Bears Ears Partnership team has been busy reviewing the draft Bears Ears National Monument Management Plan, released at the beginning of March. We are currently preparing to submit our own comments, and are excited to share our takeaways to help you craft and submit your own before the public comment period ends on June 11.
After more than 20 months of hard work by the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition & Commission, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the United States Forest Service (USFS), and regional Cooperating Agencies, the draft Monument Management Plan (MMP) for Bears Ears National Monument has been released to the public. This draft MMP is a product of strong collaboration between the Tribes and agencies, culminating in a precedent-setting plan that blends agency management practices with Traditional Indigenous Knowledge.
READ THE DRAFT MONUMENT MANAGEMENT PLAN
We strongly support the preferred Alternative E, recognizing the collaboration and compromise that went into this Alternative, and the resulting co-stewardship framework that emphasizes the integration of Traditional Indigenous Knowledge (TIK) and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK).
Here are some points to consider as you prepare your comments:
- Implementation level planning should begin as soon as the plan is finalized and couldn’t be more important. Ensure your comments emphasize the need for Tribal leadership and Co-management as this process continues .
- Travel management planning: Agencies should commit to work with Tribes on a route by route assessment for future changes in the travel system, emphasizing conservation and cultural resource protection;
- The development of a comprehensive river management plan for the San Juan River; this plan should be developed with conservation and protection of cultural resources as a priority over increased use.
- Cultural Resources Management Plan: Should adopt Tribal definitions of Monument objects and resources, to include not just archaeological sites, but also culturally important plants, riparian areas, culturally important wildlife, and intangibles such as viewsheds, soundscapes, and more.
- Administer additional protections to ancestral lands through conserving animal migration corridors and habitats to ensure that wildlife can thrive and hunting and fishing will continue for generations to come.
- This involves balancing the needs of the recreation community, regional communities, and other stakeholder groups with respect for the spiritual and ceremonial practice of Indigenous people who have lived on this land since time immemorial.
- Derogatory names of places and objects in the Monument must be removed.
- Support the approach of Recreation Management Zones (RMZ’s), an effective method used In Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and other public lands.
- A firewood harvesting permit system for woodcutting should be implemented with Tribal consultation and leadership in how the system is designed and allocated.
- Strong support for the Visual Resource Management and protection of night skies, and soundscape as outlined in Alternative E.
- Paleontologists should, by permit, be able to collect and study paleo resources in order to understand them and protect objects and values in the Proclamation.
- For livestock grazing, we advocate a standard measure across the Monument to track and assess range health and to align evaluation intervals and forage assessments, waiting no longer than 3-5 years on sensitive grazing allotments. Alternative E balances livestock grazing, landscape health and the protection of cultural resources.
- Alternative E outlines future management of specially designated areas; priority should be given to the preferred alternative in management of Wilderness Study Areas, Lands With Wilderness Characteristics, Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, and other similar special protections.
Take Action
The 90-day comment period for this draft Bears Ears National Monument Management Plan ends on June 11 - this is the last opportunity for the public to provide input on the plan that will help determine how Bears Ears is managed for the next 20-30 years. It is essential that BEP and our community support Tribal leadership and the Earth-to-Sky approach, as well as share any vital knowledge we have of Bears Ears for the agencies to consider as they move toward a final plan.
This draft RMP represents another shift in federal-Tribal relations towards co-management and honoring the Tribes’ vision - agencies now have an obligation to honor the Traditional and Local Knowledge of the Commission and involve the Commission at each stage of this plan’s development.
Submit your own public comment by June 11! As the comment period comes to a close, we need your voice to ensure that this process - and final draft Monument Management Plan - will serve as a model for the conservation community in the future of public lands. Thank you for your participation in the protection of Bears Ears!