On December 4, 2017, Trump reduced the size of the [Bear's Ears] monument by about 1.3 million acres (85%). Trump shrank another national monument, Grand Staircase-Escalante [about 46%], on the same day*. See the figure below:**
He said that U.S. territory should be governed by local people and not by a few people in Washington (e.g. the national government). A problem with that argument is that the land is owned by the U.S. Government or, in other words, the American people. While the local inhabitants are a part of the American people, they are only a small part of the entire American people. Therefore it seems to me that the people's land should be administered by the people's representative which is the Federal government..
Existing rights are not effected. If you already had grazing rights on the land, it will continue. I urge you to read the entire fact sheet.***
The national monument designation does not alter or affect valid existing rights of any party and will not impact the operation, maintenance, replacements or modification of existing utilities, pipelines or telecommunications, as long as they are consistent with the care and management of the objects identified in the national monument proclamation. A mineral resource assessment is made prior to designation of Federal land as a wilderness or monument status. See below for mineral resource information on Bear's Ears National Monument.***
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Yes. Currently, livestock grazing occurs throughout most of the monument area including nine active Forest Service allotments. Existing laws, regulations and policies followed by the Forest Service and BLM in issuing and administering grazing permits or leases shall continue to apply to ensure ongoing consistency with the monument. Likewise, timber management, including for purposes of restoration and forest health, will continue pursuant to existing laws, regulations and policies, consistent with the proper care and management of the national monument. ***
Specifically, 11 “wilderness study areas” in the Bears Ears region prohibit most motorized travel, construction of new roads and development of oil, gas or coal. These wilderness study areas include many of the region’s iconic locations: Cedar Mesa, Mancos Mesa and Cheese Box Canyon, to name a few. The region is also home to the Dark Canyon Wilderness, designated by Congress in 1984 and completely protected from motorized travel or natural resource extraction. Farther south lies the famed Valley of the Gods, federally preserved as an “area of critical environmental concern” to ensure the integrity of beautiful scenic vistas.****
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Fact: Mineral resources beneath Bears Ears are scarce. There is no developable oil and gas. The region’s nonrenewable resources, including uranium near the Daneros Mine, were actually outside the expansive monument boundaries declared by Obama. The integrity of the Bears Ears landscape, long kept intact before the creation of the monument, will almost certainly remain intact after Trump’s announcement. And to ensure this going forward, the state of Utah is asking for congressional legislation that will exclude the region from mineral extraction.****
In contrast, there do appear to be mineral resources in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was designated by Bill Clinton, including coal on school lands. It was promised that other lands for school benefit will be found elsewhere.***
As I don't know the details of how many of the Indian artifacts will be in the removed area, I cannot make an assessment and will leave it to others. I don't know how destruction or looting of Indian artifacts will be enhanced by removal of the area from the monument. In both cases it is against the law.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bears_Ears_National_Monument
** https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-energy-202/2017/12/05/the-energy-202-trump-says-his-bears-ears-decision-isn-t-controversial-but-he-s-wrong/5a25a7ce30fb0469e883f9e1/?utm_term=.6d977b113e41
*** https://www.fs.fed.us/sites/default/files/bear-ears-fact-sheet.pdf
**** https://www.deseretnews.com/article/865693641/Gary-Herbert-5-myths-about-Bears-Ears.html
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