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As another summer comes to an end, we  hope that you had the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors before the sun started its yearly migration to southern skies. With your continued support, the five Tribes and Coalition staff are hard at work ensuring that the monument management plan for Bears Ears is inclusive of Tribal perspectives and incorporates Traditional Knowledge as the management mandate requires.

Since the End-of-Spring newsletter, the Coalition (BEITC) has made remarkable progress. Stay tuned as we highlight some of the work we have been doing since the previous newsletter. Coalition staff are optimistic about the future of Bears Ears and we hope you are too. Thank you for the continued support.

Help Us Provide You With The Bears Ears Info You Want The Most!

We are updating our communications and we want your feedback!

Starting today, subscribers will be given the option to receive additional BEITC content. All subscribers will continue to receive our quarterly newsletter, and will now have the opportunity to get more Bears Ears news straight to your inbox. The hope is that this will be the best way to deliver you the Bears Ears updates that you value the most.

Opt-in to our Action Updates where you will receive updates and calls to action around important public comment periods and other opportunities to get active and support the work of the five Tribes.

Opt-in to Bears Ears National Monument Updates which will include updates about things happening on the ground within the Bears Ears National Monument (BENM) such as ecological restoration projects, special events, and reports of vandalism, looting, and site destruction.

And finally, opt-in to our Bears Ears News Round-Up which will be sent out every other month and will share what’s been in the news related to Bears Ears, the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, and the Bears Ears Commission.

Tribal Leader Meetings With Agency Leadership And Staff

This summer, the Coalition along with leadership and staff from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the US Forest Service (USFS) held three in-person meetings. In both June and July, Tribal leaders from each of the five Tribes met with the agencies in the BENM for critical meetings about monument planning, as well as important principles of Indigenous stewardship.

Topics included discussions about the forthcoming draft resource management plan, in addition to site visits provided by the BLM and USFS. The site visits provided the opportunity for leaders to discuss the restoration of some natural springs in need of repair after being damaged by grazing as well as springs and ponds that have been harmed by invasive fish species. Tribal leadership and agency personnel discussed ways to improve these habitats using traditional knowledge and with consideration of a holistic ecosystem based approach.

In August the Coalition’s Cultural Resource Subcommittee (CRS), composed of traditional knowledge and other Tribal experts, attended a virtual meeting with agency personnel in preparation of the release of the draft resource management plan for the BENM. And, to wrap up this summer’s meetings, the Coalition and agency leadership met in Albuquerque at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center to collaborate on the monument management plan.  

Tours by Grand Canyon Trust and EcoFlight

Our friends over at Grand Canyon Trust graciously offered Tribal leadership and BEITC staff tours of some critical areas within the Monument. These guided tours provided the opportunity for Tribal leadership to better understand problems as they are experienced on-the-ground, thereby helping to inform decisions regarding the management of this sacred landscape.

EcoFlight provided Coalition leaders with flights over the BENM, allowing Tribal leaders to get a birds-eye view of issues facing the monument. Both of these experiences provided a wonderful opportunity for Tribal leaders to come together, share their knowledge about Bears Ears and to connect with the landscape. These trips also allow for greater connection and stronger relationships between Tribal people and the landscape which has been affected by historical displacement from these ancestral homelands.

Thank you to the Grand Canyon Trust and EcoFlight for supporting the five Tribes during this very important time in the monument planning process.

Representative Smith meets President Biden:

In August, Coalition Representative for the Navajo Nation Davina Smith (Diné), had the opportunity to meet President Biden as he visited Utah for the first time during his presidency. Ms. Smith was appointed to serve on the Coalition by Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren, is a member of the Navajo Nation, and a Southeastern Utah local, currently residing in Blanding. During her brief encounter with President Biden she managed to hand him a BEITC shirt that read “Respect Bears Ears.”

The Coalition is looking forward to seeing President Biden showing off his new Bears Ears shirt.  

The Wildlands Conservancy Acquires Cottonwood Wash:

In regards to the Bears Ears National Monument, one of the most significant and newsworthy events that happened this summer was the acquisition of a unique parcel of private land previously known as the Guymon Ranch. The BEITC supported The Wildlands Conservancy (TWC) in their campaign known as the Cottonwood Wash Acquisition which successfully raised enough money to purchase the 320-acre piece of property. The Cottonwood Wash property is near the town of Bluff and surrounded on all sides by the Monument; it controls access to tens of thousands of acres within the BENM and contains ancestral dwellings, rock art, lithic scatters, and a crucial spring.

TWC is creating a cultural conservation easement in favor of the five Tribes, with the goal of ending future development rights, returning the right of access for ceremony and plant gathering, and ensuring co-management of the property. This first-of-its-kind cultural conservation easement brings together a nonprofit organization and Tribal nations to protect this important property.

The Coalition and local advocates supported the acquisition effort due to the abundance of cultural belongings, and because cultural protection laws only apply to the protection of ancestral sites on public lands. In the absence of such an agreement, the property would potentially be developed for commercial purposes leaving the area vulnerable to vandalism, destruction, and exploitation.

Thank you - Ahéhee' - Kwakwhay - Askwali - Elahkwa - Tog'oiak'

for your ongoing support!