The case for a national monument.

• Author: Biton, Adva
• Position: Bears Ears

While so much else about the region is hotly contested, one thing is not: The Bears Ears region needs to be protected, whether it's by the Public Lands Initiative or by designating it a national monument. Throughout the strife, this is something people cannot lose sight of, says John Ruple, associate professor of law (research) at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. But while the PLI offers its own benefits, a Ruple says a national monument designation might be the best course of action when it comes to the crux of the matter: protecting and preserving the land.

"The National Trust for Historic Preservation has described [the Bears Ears region] as having over 100,000 archeological sites on it--some of the richest concentrations of our archeological sites in North America. It's a special place for everyone, including Native Americans who have ancestral ties to that landscape," says Ruple. "We know that that area is attracting a lot more attention, and it's getting a lot more use. We're seeing sites that are being looted by intentional bad actors, and sites that are being damaged by well-intentioned people that are frankly loving it to death. There is an argument for managing the landscape in a way that recognizes its special and fragile nature and allows a more active approach to managing it and protecting its interest."

The Bears Ears national monument proposal

In response to the desecration and looting of American Indian sites, Congress enacted the Antiquities Act of 1906, which allows the president of the United States the ability to declare national monuments. The issues of 1906, say Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk, member of the Mountain Ute Tribal Council and co-chair of the Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition, are not so far removed from the problems of 2016.

"[Bears Ears is] an important aspect in representing our religion and our wellbeing on a daily basis ... The biggest threat to that is the looting of graves--there's so much of that that's documented and even more so, undocumented instances of it," says Lopez-Whiteskunk. "Once it's gone, it's gone. When those destructive behaviors continue and nobody is held responsible or accountable for it, we can't do anything."

Five tribes banded together to create the Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition: The Hopi tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni and Ute Indian Tribe. The five tribes drafted the Bears Ears National Monument Proposal after seeing that...