The U.S. Bureau of Land Management Monticello Field Office and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Manti-La Sal National Forest are hosting a public meeting of the Bears Ears National Monument Advisory Committee
The meeting will be held 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Dec. 3, with public comments accepted 1:30 p.m., at the Hideout, 648 S. Hideout Way, Monticello UT 84535, according to a Nov. 4 BLM news release. A virtual participation option also will be available.
"Conversations with the Monument Advisory Committee and other stakeholders have been an essential part of the planning process," BLM Canyon Country District Manager Nicollee Gaddis-Wyatt said in the release. "The federal agencies look forward to continued collaboration with the Monument Advisory Committee, Tribal Nations, the Bears Ears Commission and other interested individuals and entities to help inform the management efforts taking place at Bears Ears National Monument."
Bears Ears National Monument Advisory Committee is citizen-based with up to 15 members who represent interests of the local community "and monument values," the news release said. Bears Ears National Monument is co-managed by BLM and the U.S. Forest Service, "with traditional and historical guidance" from Bears Ears National Monument-area Tribal Nations.
Bears Ears National Monument has reportedly been controversial. In August, Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox announced the state's federal lawsuit over President Joe Biden's "unlawful designation of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments."
Cox's announcement included a statement by himself, Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson, State Auditor John Dougall, Treasurer Marlo Oaks, State Senate President J. Stuart Adams, State House Speaker Brad Wilson and Congressional Delegation members.
"These public lands and sacred sites are a stewardship that none of us take lightly," Cox's announcement said. "The archeological, paleontological, religious, recreational and geologic values need to be harmonized and protected. Rather than guarding those resources, President Biden's unlawful designations place them all at greater risk.
"The vast size of the expanded Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments draws unmanageable visitation levels to these lands without providing any of the tools necessary to adequately conserve and protect these resources," Cox's announcement continued. "A congressional solution would be the more effective path for the conservation and management of Utah lands. This would include collaboration from state and federal agencies, Tribal Nations, local governments, citizens, the legislature and Utah's congressional delegation.
"A congressional solution could better guard the area's resources by ensuring Tribal access to sacred sites, providing federal agencies with the management tools and funding they need, channeling visitation into appropriate protected locations and giving local communities the funding and flexibility they need to thrive economically," Cox's announcement said. "We now challenge this repeated, abusive federal overreach to ensure that our public lands are adequately protected and that smart stewardship remains with the people closest to the land.
"Today's lawsuit argues that the size of the two national monuments, covering vast landscapes of a combined 3.2 million acres, violates the Antiquities Act of 1906, which limits U.S. presidents to create monuments confined to the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects to be protected," Cox's announcement continued.
Interior Newswire reported in September the BLM, Forest Service and five Tribal Nations on the Bears Ears Commission formalized their partnership for co-management of the monument. BLM and Forest Service are expected to provide each Tribal Nation with resources through a separate process to support the work the Tribes will perform under the agreement and through their Bears Ears Commission representatives.
According to the news release, written statements or questions related to the public meeting may also be directed to the BLM Monticello Field Office, Attn: Rachel Wootton, P.O. Box 7, Monticello, UT 84535, by phone at 435-587-1500 or via email with the subject line “Bears Ears National Monument Advisory Committee” to blm_ut_mt_mail@blm.gov.
