Letter to the Editor: San Juan County Democratic Party

Something Left to Consider

Bears Ears NM Will Protect and Prosper San Juan County

We might like to think of the good old days before National Monuments as the free roaming way it was and should be forever. But we are deluding ourselves if we think that’s how it could be again, if only the Bears Ears National Monument didn’t exist anymore.

We have seen how our State Delegation, in particular Mike Lee; and the Trump administration now regard Federal Land as something to be exploited: leased for extraction of oil, gas, coal, uranium, other minerals; stripped of forest products, privatized for exclusive developments, or simply sold to the highest bidder.

Their first steps in accomplishing this are already underway. First was the shrinking of the of National Monuments, both here and in Escalante. The next step was the letting of over 60 new oil, gas and uranium leases just hours after the Monument’s decimation. Next, an attempt was made to turn the National Forests essentially over to state political control, where extractive profits would dominate over our interests of watershed protection, wildfire mitigation, sustainable logging and grazing, firewood gathering, hunting, fishing and hiking. Thankfully, this initiative has been halted, at least for the time being. (We wrote in detail on this in our last Letter: Our Forest, Our Fire and Our Fight)

It’s also clear that one of our politicians’ principal motives is personal financial gain for themselves and their Corporate sponsors. Already, House Democrats are investigating possible insider trading on Uranium corporation, Energy Fuels, the day before the Trump Bears Ears announcement in July. Senator Lee wants to sell Federal public lands for development, ostensibly for affordable housing, but likely to go to the highest bidders.

The Bears Ears National Monument has been an economic benefit to the County over its decade long life. In the first years of Bears Ears NM, a USU study found that a 50.6% increase in County outdoor recreation was accompanied by a “significant growth … in retail trade, outfitting, professional, scientific and technical services, and food services.” Over a longer period, it found a 44% increase in per capita income ($26,438 to $38,160). It has diversified our economy without turning us into Moab.

With our positive support and engagement, the Monument can provide stewardship for lands containing a remarkable human history of Puebloan, Diné, Ute and LDS cultures, from its ancient cliff dwellings to the Hole-in-the-Rock trail. It will ensure continuation of traditional values and uses such as grazing, hunting, wood and medicinal herb gathering, hiking, climbing, rafting, spiritual renewal, and preservation for our future generations. It is a shield against private encroachment, development and pollution of the pristine landscapes, and destructive extractive industries; while also spurring economic wellbeing for our adjacent private and public lands.

As well as being a benefit to us all, the restoration of the Monument is of central concern to half of our County population, whose Native engagement in its stewardship through the Intertribal Coalition is recognition of their ancestral attachment to this sacred land. Trump needs to restore the Commission.

Election Day is November 3. As we have argued before here, please consider our candidates who support Bears Ears against their opponents who would sell us out.

San Juan County Democrats