Bears Ears National Monument
Bears Ears National Monument, located in southeastern Utah, is a federally protected area established on December 28, 2016, with the aim of preserving its natural, historical, and cultural significance. The monument encompasses approximately 1.4 million acres, which are jointly managed by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. It derives its name from two prominent buttes resembling bear ears, a feature recognized in the languages of several indigenous tribes, including the Hopi, Navajo, Zuni, Ute Mountain Ute, and Ute Indian tribes, who have inhabited the region for thousands of years.
The area is rich in archaeological sites, including ancient dwellings and rock art, reflecting its longstanding cultural importance. While it also has a history of settlement by pioneers and miners, the land supports diverse ecosystems, featuring unique plant habitats and wildlife, including endangered species. The monument has been the subject of political controversy, particularly following a reduction in its size by President Trump in 2017, which raised concerns among conservationists and tribal groups about potential exploitation of the land. Overall, Bears Ears National Monument stands as a testament to the intersection of natural beauty, ecological diversity, and deep cultural heritage.
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Bears Ears National Monument
Bears Ears National Monument is an area in southeastern Utah that was designated a federally protected area on December 28, 2016. Federal protections limit commercial activities in the area with the intent of preserving the natural, historical, and cultural significance of the site. The area has been home to indigenous peoples for centuries and includes ceremonial sites, rock art, and ancient dwellings. The site was also home to homesteaders and pioneers, and is known to have deposits of a number of minerals and other natural resources.
It is called “Bears Ears” after two buttes, or small isolated mesas with flat tops and steep sides, that resemble a pair of bear’s ears. The landmark is so distinctive that five native groups all named the geological feature the equivalent of “bears ears” in their own languages. The area was originally designated a national monument in December 2016 by President Barack Obama. The designation included 1.4 million acres of land jointly managed by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. On December 4, 2017, President Donald Trump reduced the size of the monument to 201,876 acres. As justification, he cited the Antiquities Act of 1906 that prohibits the federal government from setting aside more land than necessary to preserve sites of historical, cultural, or natural significance.
The new monument was divided into two separate national monuments, the Indian Creek National Monument and Shash Jaa, Navajo for “bears ears.” The move was controversial, with supporters saying the original proclamation set aside more land than was needed, and opponents claiming the newly-unprotected land would be open to exploitation and mining.
Brief History
Archeological evidence indicates that the area in and around Bears Ears National Monument has been home to indigenous people as far back as 11,000 BCE. An archaeological site known as the Lime Ridge Clovis site has yielded evidence of human habitation during the last Ice Age. Other sites show the entire area was inhabited by about 6000 BCE and was home to the ancestral Pueblo peoples until between the eighth and thirteenth centuries CE.
As a result, the Bears Ears area has a rich history of Native American occupation, including petroglyphs and pictographs carved in the rock, relics of pottery, and the remains of cliff dwellings, sweat lodges, and other important structures. The area has great significance to multiple indigenous populations, including the Hopi Tribe, the Navajo Nation, the Zuni Pueblo people, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and the Ute Indian Tribe.
These tribes came together in 2015 to form the Inter-Tribal Coalition to lobby for federal protection for the Bears Ears region. They sought to secure their right to use the land and its resources for cultural rituals as well as to protect the environment from mining and other uses. Inter-Tribal Coalition was supported by archaeologists, environmentalists, and other indigenous people who also wanted to protect the area. The group’s efforts were primarily responsible for the national monument declaration in 2016.
In addition to its significance to the history of Native Americans, the Bears Ears area also played a key role in other aspects of American history. When Mormons moved west in search of religious freedom, they traveled through and settled in the area near Bears Ears. Other pioneers heading west also made the area their home. These settlers included trappers, traders, homesteaders, and miners hoping to strike it rich.
Overview
In addition to its rich history, the Bears Ears Monument area includes a wealth of natural beauty and resources. Its rock formations have been sculpted by centuries of activity from wind and water. Its landscape features both desert habitats with exposed rock dotted with cacti, succulents, and plant life, as well as mountainous regions populated with trees and brush. This diverse landscape has supported sustenance hunting and fishing for centuries.
The Bears Ears area includes some relatively rare plant habitats, such as natural hanging gardens and tinajas—natural areas of surface water formed by water from waterfalls and swift running streams. The area also includes meadows filled with a variety of plant life. Visitors to the monument area can observe many different types of plant life, ranging from desert cacti, to tall and short grasses, to multiple species of wildflower, such as asters, columbine, daisies, primroses, larkspur, and several varieties of monkey flowers. Other areas of the monument support shrubs such as dogwood, juniper, sagebrush, and yucca, as well as trees such birch, oak, cottonwood, fir, and several species of pine.
The area’s habitat, remote location, and limited human habitation make it an ideal place for a number of different types of animals, some of which are endangered. The Bears Ears area is well-known for its population of elk and is also home to numerous bighorn sheep, mule deer, mountain lions, foxes, and other mammals. The area is also home to several species of lizard, including the twin-spotted spiny lizard and leopard nose lizard. More than two hundred different types of birds live in the area. Among them are the California condor and Mexican spotted owl. The desert tortoise also makes its home in the more arid areas of Bears Ears.
The ecosystem of the Bears Ears area sits atop a region with an abundance of sandstone. The namesake “bear’s ears” buttes are capped with Wingate sandstone. More than three hundred million years ago, the Bears Ears area was under water and was part of a coral reef. In later geological periods, it was a desert bordered by a sea. Millions of years of land upheaval and the underground percolation of volcanic pockets of magma helped shape the landscape. This activity left deposits of gold, uranium, and some fossil fuels in the area. Although mining claims have been made in the area for more than a century, major mineral deposits have not been discovered. Studies have found only limited evidence of commercially-viable amounts of such resources in the area.
Bibliography
Baca, Angelo. “The Power of ‘Bears Ears’ and Indigenous Place Names.” Folklife, 21 Feb. 2018, folklife.si.edu/magazine/the-power-of-bears-ears-and-indigenous-place-names. Accessed 2 March 2019.
“Bear Ears National Monument.” U.S. Forest Service, www.fs.fed.us/sites/default/files/bear-ears-fact-sheet.pdf. Accessed 2 March 2019.
Coles-Ritchie, Marc. “Bears Ears National Monument Plants Highlighted in Proclamation.” Grand Canyon Trust, www.grandcanyontrust.org/sites/default/files/resources/uf‗Bears‗Ears‗Plants‗booklet.pdf. Accessed 2 March 2019.
“Cultural and Archeological Significance.” Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, bearsearscoalition.org/archaeological-significance/. Accessed 2 March 2019.
“Culture and History.” Visit Utah, www.visitutah.com/things-to-do/history-culture/. Accessed 2 March 2019.
“Defenders’ View: National Monuments Vital to Wildlife Conservation.” Defenders of Wildlife, 10 July 2017, newsroom.defenders.org/defenders-view-national-monuments-vital-to-wildlife-conservation/. Accessed 2 March 2019.
Popovich, Nadja. “Bears Ears National Monument Is Shrinking. Here’s What Is Being Cut.” New York Times, 8 Dec. 2017, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/08/climate/bears-ears-monument-trump.html. Accessed 2 March 2019.
“Programs: National Conservation Lands: Utah: Bears Ears National Monument: Geology.” U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management, www.blm.gov/basic/programs-national-conservation-lands-utah-bears-ears-national-monument-geology. Accessed 2 March 2019.