The Bears Ears Monument Featured story in Canyon Country Zephyr

Response to Jim's article:

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Drawing by Jeff Byrd

This lengthly artive provides a great delineation of events leading to the current crisis at Bears Ear, told with insight and honesty. I think that “outliers” bring a different insight to any discussion, and you’ve represented us well in the discussion. As one who has been fighting Bears Ears monument for 6 months now, it is refreshing to actually have someone report more of the breadth of the conflict, and the new concerns that have developed concerning national monuments. Monuments are not the panacea of protection, as extreme greens would have us believe.

I am also glad you further exposed the heavy handed, financially wealthy lobby that pits itself against rural Americans, whether in SE Utah, or the tiny islands of Hawaii, the rangelands of Oregon, Nevada, California, & Arizona or the tiny communities of West Virginia. Their modus operandi is usually the same: exaggerate the damage being done, rally indigenous people to to be the banner carriers (by dangling money carrots), portray local people as dumb redneck looters, and attack cattle and industry as the enemy. After hearing these repetitive arguments time and time again, you soon realize that rural America is at the bottom of their priority list and they will buy their way to power, rather than compromise or negotiate.  No wonder we have drawn a line in the sand.

San Juan County is already home to six federal designations/destinations: Natural Bridges, Hovenweep, Canyonlands, Dark Canyon and Grand Gulch Wilderness areas, and Glen Canyon Recreation Area. Only 8% of our San Juan County’s 5,077,120 acres is privately owned. We are the poorest of 29 counties in the State. We need jobs and a tax base and multiple use of local land not another monument. Some areas in that coveted land, do NOT meet the definition of “public” land, including 43 grazing allotments, 661 water-right infrastructures, 151,000 acres of state trust land, and 18,000 acres of private property, as well as hundreds of miles of roads and infrastructure. 

There is a very good reason we are not happy with yet another possible National Monument designation. And yes, we do not want to become another Moab…even if we do like a lot of the people who have to live there.

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