The battle for Bears Ears.

• Position: Bears Ears

A pair of buttes surrounded by grasses and wildflowers in a quiet corner of San Juan County seems an unlikely stage for conflict, but the fate of Bears Ears has become a matter of fierce debate from Utah to Washington, D.C.

Nearly 2 million acres of land in San Juan County is in line to be signed by executive order into a national monument through the Antiquities Act. Making the Bears Ears region a national monument would aid in conservation of an area the National Trust for Historic Preservation called one of the United States most endangered historical places in the country, proponents say; meanwhile, opponents criticize the plan for...