Today marks one week since President Joe Biden took office, and he is making clear his priorities for public lands and Tribal engagement – both critically important to the future of Bears Ears and the broader southeast Utah landscape.
Biden signed an executive order within hours of his inauguration calling for a review of “the boundaries and conditions” of Bears Ears National Monument. Yesterday the President reaffirmed the federal government’s commitments to Tribal consultation. And today, he paused new oil and gas leasing on federally managed lands.
As you can imagine, we are encouraged by the President’s effort to reassess the largest rollback of public lands protections in U.S. history and are hopeful for a thoughtful and thorough review of Bears Ears. While we can’t say exactly how or when Bears Ears could be made whole, or even expanded, Biden’s executive order provided 60 days for the Secretary of the Interior to conduct the review and report the findings to the president. We hope the review will have in mind how protections for this globally important cultural landscape can be made permanent.
Additionally, the administration’s recent actions regarding oil and gas leasing, including a secretarial order calling for a review of Trump-era leasing, allows for time to review rash decisions made as part of the previous administration’s “energy dominance” agenda.
These decisions have big implications for the “Lands Between” Bears Ears and Canyons of the Ancients National Monuments – the most culturally rich area of the U.S. open to oil drilling and an area leased heavily in the past four years.
We’re hopeful for a rollback of the Trump Administration leasing fire-sale and an initiation of “smart from the start” planning to allow for responsible development while protecting the area’s remarkable archaeological record.
Perhaps more important is the administration’s commitment to working with Tribal Nations. We hope this extends beyond what is mandated by law to include meaningful collaboration, consultation, and engagement. In the case of Bears Ears, we encourage the administration to prioritize listening to Indigenous leaders and the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition in their efforts to preserve their ancestral homelands.
As the future for Bears Ears is sure to once again capture the nation’s attention, we remind everyone that continuing coverage of the monument review, and hopefully its restoration, will draw more people to this culturally important landscape. It would behoove us all to educate ourselves on the ways in which we can Visit with Respect and encourage others to do the same. To brush up on best practices to help preserve this globally important region, log on to our visitor website.