The Signs Came Down. The Fight Didn't.

Bears Ears lost its federal protections last month, but the coalition that built them isn't backing down.

When the five tribes’ signs came down last month from Bears Ears National Monument, my heart sank. It symbolized a profound loss—erasure of public lands, abandonment of the innovative and effective partnership which maintained them, and, significantly, erosion of trust between people and their government.

From an academic standpoint, I knew that a move away from cooperative agreements, local expertise, and community support was foolish. One of the first lessons you learn in community leadership is that no one person has the wisdom required to make all decisions on their own. All sorts of studies document the myriad of harm done by outside “experts” claiming to know what is best for diverse places and people.

Likewise, decades of research has shown that successful land management is best achieved by incorporating knowledge from multiple perspectives, especially including that of indigenous communities. Meaningfully involving people in the oversight of their lands and livelihoods is a well-accepted (but rarely actualized) standard of practice.

These truths are well-accepted in modern land management, but this administration is too old-school to recognize it. It is blind to the damage it is doing by denying them.

Beyond academic conversation, the value of the Bears Ears Commission is immeasurable.

Its history is full of activism, citizenship, community, and care for the living world, and it’s all mixed together in one of those rare, uplifting American underdog stories that fuel your soul with hope. Throughout the course of its existence, it has showcased the wonder of collectively imagining the world a different way and the possibility of achieving a transformation.

The Bears Ears Commission was formed over a decade ago when five tribes in Utah were boxed out of state-wide conversations regarding the management and development of their ancestral lands. With the threat of losing precious natural resources close at hand—not to mention an abundant amount of disrespect from elected leaders—the tribes formed a coalition and worked to achieve lasting protections at a national level.

For years, they documented their histories, ties to the land, and importance of its preservation. In 2015, they petitioned President Obama to designate Bears Ears as a new kind of national monument, one that would center on the tribes’ connection to the land. In 2016, he made history by using the Antiquities Act to do just that, making Bears Ears “the first Native national monument”.

Over the years, the Coalition achieved historic land protections, co-wrote formal land management plans with the Bureau of Land Management, and ingrained innovative partnerships aimed at bringing people closer to the land. Their approach centers on teaching stewardship and honoring the sanctity of heritage sites. In this, interaction with the land is a way of living in the present, rather than of viewing the past as a museum-worthy relic.

What they have achieved is stunning.

The Bears Ears National Monument is full of people who dedicated huge parts of themselves to the idea that they could be a part of making their world better. No doubt its history is filled with communities and individuals who gambled their time, reputation, and energy on a crazy new idea. As it succeeded, their belief in this country and its potential for goodness blossomed.

Then Trump came along and cut it out, without care or consultation. And like that years of progress was decimated.

Or so it would seem.

But the people involved with Bears Ears Monument are finding what I would wish for any group experiencing this kind of trauma—power.

They came together to grieve, and also to plan. They are speaking out against Trump’s actions, while reaching out and finding new supporters. Simply put, they are a determined community that refuses to be defined by an unjust setback. They press on.

Last week at a gathering in Utah, National Parks Conservation Association’s Davina Smith-Idjesa said it well: “We are still here. Today is more than a protest, it is a gathering of shared voices, shared grief, shared healing, and shared determination…when we leave this place, let us carry this unity with us.” She elaborated next actions and upcoming efforts to bring back land protections in Utah, and then she closed by saying, “Our connection to this land did not begin with a presidential proclamation. And it will not end with one.”

Right now, we are let down by a government that is abandoning its commitments, and it could be easy to become cynical or despondent. Instead, we find hope in communities like this and discover peace in understanding that we have power when we join them.

With love and hope for the future,

Stephanie

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Read more about Bears Ears here.