Bears Ears Monument designation draws thousands of comments

Bears Ears Monument designation draws thousands of comments

(Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)


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SALT LAKE CITY — There's still time to weigh in on the Bears Ears National Monument designation. Mailed comments have to be postmarked by Friday and received by the U.S. Department of Interior no later than June 1. Online comments had to be received by 10 p.m. Thursday.

More than 85,000 comments have been logged by the agency, with an estimated 41,000 that specifically mention the San Juan County monument.

Information about submitting comments to the Interior Department is available online.

Written comments may be mailed to Monument Review, MS-1530, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street NW., Washington, DC 20240.

The Trump administration ordered a review by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke of 27 national monuments of 100,000 acres or more designated since 1996 to determine if they comply with provisions of the 1906 Antiquities Act.

That law gives U.S. presidents the ability to make monument designations to protect antiquities or objects of special historical significance, but critics say designations have become increasingly sweeping over time, particularly with the Obama administration.

The Bears Ears monument, at 1.35 million acres, is a source of contention and divisiveness in San Juan County, Utah's largest but poorest county.

Local elected officials, Utah's governor and Utah's congressional delegation are opposed to the monument, but a coalition of five Native American tribes — including the Navajo Nation with chapters in the region — sought its designation to help protect the estimated 100,000 cultural artifacts within its footprint.

President Barack Obama made the designation late last year, in the final month of his administration, and following a listening tour earlier that summer by then-Secretary Sally Jewell.

The designation set off a storm of protests by conservative Utah leaders, with the Legislature passing resolutions to undo the monument, as well as the introduction of federal legislation seeking to rein in the use of the Antiquities Act.

Hundreds who want the Bears Ears National Monument rescinded turn out to rally as Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke leaves for the airport in Blanding on Monday, May 8, 2017. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
Hundreds who want the Bears Ears National Monument rescinded turn out to rally as Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke leaves for the airport in Blanding on Monday, May 8, 2017. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)

Behind the scenes pressure by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, helped culminate in President Donald Trump's issuance of an executive order on April 26 calling for the monument review.

The executive order directed another visit to Utah by the Interior secretary, this time newly appointed Ryan Zinke, a former Navy Seal team commander and GOP congressman from Montana.

Zinke's visit to Utah earlier this month included an aerial tour of Bears Ears, a hike to ancient ruins and a horseback ride through a Forest Service grazing allotment on a mountaintop.

The four-day trip also featured a meeting with the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, Friends of Cedar Mesa, ranchers, lawmakers, county commissioners, multiple federal agency representatives and paleontologists and other field experts who work with resources at the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which is also part of the review.

Bears Ears is part of an expedited review with an earlier comment deadline, while the monument review in general has a comment deadline that runs until July 10.

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