It has been less than one year since the Hopi Tribe, the Navajo Nation, the Pueblo of Zuni, and the two Ute Tribes came together in support of a national monument designation in an area west of Bluff, Utah known as the Bear's Ears. The Bear's Ears Intertribal Coalition believes that a national monument, managed by a partnership between the tribes, is the best way to protect the sites that are important to their cultural heritage and traditional ways.
Within the past year, this debate has attracted national attention, and Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell is now planning a visit to Bluff to hold a community meeting. Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Councilwoman Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk sat down at KSJD to talk about her tribe's support for protection of that area, the details of how it would be managed, and what she's hoping to see during Secretary Jewell's visit.
