A coalition of tribes, led by the Hopi and the Navajo, and including the Utes of Colorado and Utah and several of New Mexico’s pueblos have asked President Obama to use the Antiquities Act to declare this landscape a national monument to be protected alongside other nearby national treasures, such as Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks

Washburn, Kevin

English

University of New Mexico

2-7-2016 
Cedar Mesa Proposal Good for All 
Kevin Washburn 
University of New Mexico - School of Law 
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Kevin Washburn, Cedar Mesa Proposal Good for All, Albuquerque Journal (2016). 
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https://www.abqjournal.com/719675/land-proposal-good-for-all.html    
 
Cedar Mesa land proposal good for all 
 
By Kevin Washburn 
 
Albuquerque Journal 
February 7, 2016 
 
Just on the other side of the Four Corners, in Utah’s San Juan County, there is an 
area known as Cedar Mesa, an amazing plateau that rises to 6,500 feet. It is the site 
of deep canyons and red rocks. 
 
Just to the north is a strikingly beautiful feature that rises to nearly 9,000 feet called 
the Bears Ears, so named for the silhouette it produces when viewed from the south. 
 
On Bears Ears are high-altitude forests filled with quaking aspens, tall pines and wild 
game of all sorts. Surrounding Cedar Mesa and Bears Ears is a landscape with more 
than 100,000 petroglyphs and numerous ancient Indian dwellings, proving that this 
land has been visited by Indian tribes, and their predecessors, for thousands of years. 
 
The area is also a dream location for hikers, campers and hunters and other visitors 
to the public lands. 
 
A coalition of tribes, led by the Hopi and the Navajo, and including the Utes of 
Colorado and Utah and several of New Mexico’s pueblos have asked President 
Obama to use the Antiquities Act to declare this landscape a national monument to 
be protected alongside other nearby national treasures, such as Arches, 
Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. Their request has been joined 
by national and regional conservation groups. 
 
Protecting this sort of resource is precisely the reason Congress gave presidents this 
power in the Antiquities Act in 1906. 
 
President Teddy Roosevelt used the law to protect New Mexico’s own Chaco Canyon 
and Gila Cliff Dwellings as well as the Grand Canyon before it became a national park. 
All of these are national treasures. 
 
The truth is that it would not be economically costly to protect Bears Ears. This area 
remains undeveloped largely because it has never been viewed as having especially 
rich mineral resources. Though the archeological resources don’t have a measurable 
price tag like coal, oil and gas, many people agree that the archeology is far richer 
than any mineral resources that could be extracted. And the ancient art needs much 
stronger protection from looters. 
 
In addition to approaching the White House for a national monument, interested 
citizens of the region have also encouraged congressmen Rob Bishop and Jason 
Chaffetz, both Utah Republicans, to develop legislation to protect the area. Tribes 
have been outspoken about the need for management of this land and have 
expressed frustration that both congressmen have seemed to ignore tribal concerns 
and have refused to engage with tribes even when they sat in the same room. 
After much foot-dragging, Bishop and Chaffetz last month finally released a public 
land initiative for this area that is focused more on facilitating mineral development 
and less on protecting archeological resources. 
Bishop, who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, has bristled at criticism 
from tribes. To punish the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation for 
expressing past frustrations, Bishop has proposed to transfer thousands of acres of 
federal land within the tribe’s Uncompahgre Reservation to the State of Utah in 
exchange for state lands outside the reservation. His stated purpose was to 
consolidate within the reservation the scattered parcels of state land held for the 
state education trust fund to facilitate mineral development and “maximize revenue 
for Utah’s schoolkids.” 
Of all the federal land that exists throughout Utah, Bishop’s decision to focus the 
consolidation effort on taking the land within the Ute Indian reservation is diabolically 
genius. It pits the Indian tribe against schoolchildren. Let’s hope that our own 
congressional delegation opposes Bishop’s cynical and vindictive strategy. 
The fact is, all of us must compromise on the use and protection of federal public 
lands and resources. If partisan members of Congress are more interested in being 
vindictive than developing real negotiations, then the White House may have no 
choice but to lead the effort to develop a sensible plan 
President Obama has angered the left for allowing drilling in the Arctic Ocean and 
angered conservatives – and even Indian tribes – for attempting to reduce our 
nation’s reliance on coal-fired power. The president knows how to hear from all of the 
constituents and make hard but fair decisions. Bears Ears should be protected. 
Copyright © 2018,  Albuquerque Journal 


Cedar Mesa Proposal Good for All

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