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The Navajo, Hopi, Ute and Zuni tribes all have historical roots in the region known as the Bears Ears, which is also home to important environmental sites, supporters of the decision to restore a 1.36 million national monument say. acres in the land of southern Utah. . (Photo by Josh Ewing / Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition)
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden restored the Bears Ears National Monument to its previous 1.36 million acre footprint on Friday, overturning a Trump-era decision to cut down to 85% of the southern site. Utah, valued for its environmental, archaeological and tribal treasures.
Bears Ears was one of three national monuments cut down by former President Donald Trump that were restored by Biden, with the 1.87 million acres Grand staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah and the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument off the coast of New England.
The move was welcomed by environmental and tribal leaders who were on hand for Friday’s signing of the proclamations restore public lands, one of them calling the restoration of Bears Ears a “victory for our people, our ancestors and future generations.”
“It’s time to put Trump’s cynical actions in the rearview mirror, restore legitimate protections and restart the Bears Ears co-management agreement with the tribes who have held this sacred place since time immemorial,” said Representative Raul. Grijalva, D-Tucson, in a prepared statement.
But officials in Utah, who had criticized former President Barack Obama’s decision to create the Bear ears monument in 2016, were not happy.
“These decisions clearly demonstrate the administration’s reluctance to collaborate and listen to those most affected by their decisions,” Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox said in a written statement Thursday.
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This declaration, which was also signed by the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Speaker of the Senate and Speaker of the House, accused Biden’s proclamation “does not provide certainty as well as funding for law enforcement , research and other protections that monuments need and that only Congress action can provide.
Bear ears was created by Obama with a stroke of the pen under the Antiquities Act, a law that allows a president to unilaterally create monuments to protect cultural and natural resources. Obama has used the law more than any other president, invoking it 34 times to create 29 new monuments and to enlarge five others during his mandate.
The monuments were an early target for Trump, who ordered an overhaul just months after taking office in 2017 and signed a proclamation before the end of this year that cropped bear ears from about 1.35 million acres to about 200,000. The reduction was welcomed by critics like then-Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, who said at the time that the Antiquities Act has “no rules, there is no process in law for creation or readjustments, and that is part of the problem “.
But Biden used the same act Friday to overturn Trump’s decision. Biden’s proclamation will not only bring back the boundaries Obama set in 2016, but add protections for 11,200 acres that Trump identified in 2017, for a total protected area of 1.36 million acres.
“The truth is that national monuments and parks are part of… our identity as a people,” Biden said. “They are more than natural wonders, they are the birthright that we have passed down from generation to generation, a birthright of every American. Preserving them is the fulfillment of a promise made to our children.
Biden recalled on Friday a promise he made while on an election campaign, to a young girl who asked him to protect the monument as she handed him what he described as a pair of ears bear.
“This may be the simplest promise I’ve made in a long time,” Biden said.
Tribal, state and federal leaders who joined Biden at the White House signing ceremony included Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, who said he “wholeheartedly supports” the expansion.
“This historic signing of the proclamation and restoration of Bears Ears National Monument is a victory for our people, our ancestors and future generations,” said Nez. “Bears Ears is home to many of our historical and cultural sites, plants, water, traditional medicines and teachings for our people. “
Environmental and tribal groups were hoping 1.9 million acres around Bears Ears would be declared a national monument. President Joe Biden designated 1.36 million acres, which returned it to its original size. (Photo by Tim D. Peterson Jr./Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition)
Hopi President Timothy Nuvangyaoma told Indian Country Today the president promised “to listen to Native America and Biden’s actions prove that is happening.”
“We must protect these sacred sites which not only the Hopi tribe but other tribes find important in their history,” said Nuvangyaoma, who was also at the signing ceremony.
Grijalva and Representative Ruben Gallego, D-Phoenix, had written to Biden on Bears Ears in April, urging him to “strongly consider extending the monument’s boundaries to the 1.9 million acres proposed by Native American tribes whose ancestral lands are aimed at the monument. protect.”
Although the enlarged monument does not achieve this goal, it was nonetheless welcomed by Grijalva as proof of “this administration’s commitment to conserve our public lands and to respect the voices of indigenous peoples”.
Randi Spivak, director of the public lands program at the Center for Biological Diversity, called the restoration of monuments “a real reason to celebrate”
“It shows that Biden understands the importance of these cultural and ecological treasures and the need to act boldly to protect our natural world,” said Spivak, who hopes to see the administration take the next step.
“Now Biden must quickly deliver on his promise to protect 30% of our nation’s land and water by 2030, before other beautiful places are plundered by extractive industries,” she said.
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