** Haaland visits Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments
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Thursday, April 8, 2021
Bears Ears National Monument, Bureau of Land Management ([link removed])
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is in southern Utah this week visiting Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. Over the next two days, she will meet with stakeholders ([link removed]) to discuss the restoration of the monuments whose boundaries were slashed by the Trump administration. In 2017, the Trump Interior Department shrunk Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante by 2 million acres ([link removed]) , an unprecedented use of the Antiquities Act that continues to be litigated. It is widely expected ([link removed]) that President Biden will restore protections for these monuments.
Yesterday, Haaland started the trip by meeting with state and tribal leaders, including the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition that proposed the monument during the Obama administration. While Haaland has stated that she will hear from "all sides" on this issue, the majority of Utahns—74% ([link removed]) —agree that the boundaries of these monuments should be restored.
Restoring the monuments is an important and necessary step for protecting the natural and cultural resources within their original boundaries. In Bears Ears National Monument, rising visitation has had a significant impact ([link removed]) on the land. Areas cut out of the monument have experienced looting, and ATV tracks crisscross sensitive ecosystems and archaeological sites. President Biden has committed to protecting 30% of America by 2030, and restoring Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante would not only contribute acres to that goal, but also address the 30x30 goal's focus on supporting tribal sovereignty and indigenous-led conservation efforts ([link removed]) .
Quick hits
** Newly obtained emails show San Juan County’s push to reduce Bears Ears
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Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])
** Worsening drought fuels Western wildfire fears
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Axios ([link removed])
** Secretary Haaland visits Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments
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Washington Post ([link removed]) | Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed]) | Associated Press ([link removed]) | Reuters ([link removed]) | Deseret News (opinion) ([link removed])
** Biden nominates Interior deputy as department's top lawyer
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The Hill ([link removed]) | Native News Online ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])
** Wildfire in Theodore Roosevelt National Park triples in size, less than half contained
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The Hill ([link removed])
** Former Interior Secretary defends 'absolutely sensible' oil leasing freeze
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E&E News ([link removed])
** Our better nature: Six ideas to diversify the outdoors
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Mountain View Voice ([link removed])
** The ultimate Grand Teton National Park travel guide
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Outside ([link removed])
Quote of the day
For the first time ever, Native people led the way in achieving a 1.35 million-acre Bears Ears National Monument. The Inter-Tribal Coalition engaged patiently to have their religious freedom and hunting and gathering rights recognized, and to have their traditional knowledge and Indigenous science incorporated into the management of Bears Ears. That recognition and right must be returned to them.”
—John Holland, Contributor, Deseret News ([link removed])
Picture this
** @Interior ([link removed])
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The @BLMNational ([link removed]) areas of the Sierra Nevada in #California ([link removed]) can recharge the soul and awaken the senses. Writer Alice Walker said, "In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect." Filled with lush wildflowers and picturesque mountains, the Sierras are nature's perfection
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