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Tribes React to Reports of Energy Interests' Influence on Bears Ears Downsizing

Austin Cope
/
KSJD

Leaders with five Indian tribes that supported the creation of Bears Ears National Monument say they are “appalled” to learn that energy interests played a major role in President Trump’s decision to downsize the protected area. The New York Times reported on Friday that in March of last year, an aide to Utah Senator Orrin Hatch gave a map to the Interior Department suggesting a boundary change for the monument that would avoid likely oil and gas sites. The Times says the map was sent by email about a month before Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke launched a review of 27 national monuments, including Bears Ears. The suggested boundary was almost identical to the one announced by Trump in December 2017 when he cut the monument’s size by 85 percent. The administration had claimed no decisions had been made prior to the Interior Department review. In a release, Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Chairman Harold Cuthair said the report, which was based on thousands of internal Interior Department emails obtained by the Times, shows the agency heeded energy-industry voices more than tribes’. Cuthair said, “These documents detail consultation between Utah officials and the Trump administration on Bears Ears, the likes of which our five sovereign Native Nations sought, but did not enjoy.” The downsizing still faces challenges from many conservation and tribal groups who say it is not allowed under current law.

Gail Binkly is a career journalist who has worked for the Colorado Springs Gazette and Cortez Journal, and was the editor of the Four Corners Free Press, based in Cortez.