Restoration of Protections for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante

Local Indigenous groups have praised US President Joe Biden’s “positive step” in reinstating protections to two key national monuments in Utah, after they were drastically downsized under the Trump administration.

Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears were established as protected lands by presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama in 1996 and 2016, respectively. However, under Donald Trump’s administration in 2017, these monuments were downsized by more than two-thirds—what experts claim was the largest reduction of federally protected lands in the US. Biden’s recent actions to restore protections will grant more than three million acres back to the landscape in southern Utah and slightly expand Bears Ears from its original designation, according to reports.

The regions are popular among hikers, climbers, and stargazers and have also been home to Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. The Bears Ears region alone is home to over 100,000 sacred sites and is regarded as culturally and spiritually significant by many Indigenous communities today. The Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition (BEITT), composed of local nations advocating for meaningful protections, warmly welcomed Biden’s decision, viewing it as a “positive step towards uplifting Indigenous perspectives and respecting the inherent right of Tribes to manage ancestral homelands.”

“The Monument represents a historic opportunity for the federal government to learn and incorporate our tribal land management practices. Practices that we developed over centuries and are needed more now than ever,” Chairman Shaun Chapoose of the Ute Indian Tribe Business Committee expressed in a statement. “President Biden was right to reinforce the action taken by President Obama almost five years ago. We battled for this Monument because it matters.”

The Antiquities Act, established in 1906, provides presidents the authority to protect national treasures on federal land and sea preserves by granting them monument status. As national monuments, these regions are generally shielded from environmentally damaging extractive commercial activities such as logging, mining, fishing, and hunting.

When Obama established the Bears Ears monument in 2016 for permanent protection, he emphasized the area’s “extraordinary archaeological and cultural record” and its “profoundly sacred” significance to several Indigenous tribes. However, once protections were stripped away in 2017, the BEITT and local environmental groups observed increases in vandalism, off-road vehicle traffic, and other damage to cultural and natural resources in the region.

The coalition, including members of the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and the Zuni Tribe, remain hopeful that the damage will be reversed and that a comprehensive land management plan will be developed for the larger Bears Ears landscape through consultations between government, land agencies, and local tribes.

“By taking this action, President Biden will acknowledge the deep and enduring ancestral and cultural connections that Tribes have to this landscape, and take a significant step toward honoring his commitment to Indigenous People and recognizing their original place in this country that is now our shared home,” a BEITT spokesperson remarked.

Moreover, the government is set to restore marine life protections for the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off the coast of New England, which were rolled back in 2017. Additionally, plans to increase limits on commercial fishing in the region are underway, as it is home to over 1000 unique species of marine life. The White House expressed optimism that restoring the Monument’s protections will “expand the opportunity for unique scientific study and exploration, and safeguard natural and cultural resources for all Americans.”