After downsizing of Bears Ears, emphasis is on healing
Special to the Times | Krista Allen A Utah road sign shows a stamp reading “Trump lies” on Moki Dugway, near the top of Cedar Mesa, which is no longer part of the Bears Ears National Monument after President Donald Trump’s action.
By Krista Allen
Special to the Times
BEARS EARS NATIONAL MONUMENT, Utah
It was a glorious moment for supporters when President Barack Obama designated the 1.35-million acre Bears Ears National Monument.
When President Donald Trump downsized it by 85 percent last December, it sparked a furious backlash from local tribes and conservation groups and resulted in lawsuits.
The tribes’ argument was that Trump does not have the legal authority to shrink the monument. “It’s always us that they work against and walk all over us, not caring what we think or say,” said Jonah Yellowman, Utah Diné Bikéyah board member and spiritual advisor from Halgaii Tó, Utah, in an interview in Navajo. “The white man thinks Native Americans do not exist.”
It has been over eight months since that happened. Now, the land is healing.
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Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow