Posts tagged San Juan County
Bears Ears in the News: "Conflict and Change in San Juan County"

When we were working on our books, we became avid readers of The Salt Lake Tribune. The reporters at Utah's paper of record did exemplary work placing the Bears Ears saga in context of the state's and region's complex history.

Today, Report for America fellow Zak Podmore is continuing the Trib's thoughtful and incisive coverage of "conflict and change in San Juan County."

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An Interview with Kay Shumway

At the end of March, we reached Blanding resident Kay Shumway, whose family's ties to the region date back to the early 1900s.  Shumway, who is an Anglo member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon), feels strongly that the court-imposed redistricting was intended "to punish the people of Blanding, pure and simple."

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An Interview with Gavin Noyes of Utah Dine Bikeyah

While the fate of Bears Ears awaits the outcome of litigation, one of the proponents of the monument designation — the nonprofit Utah Dine Bikeyah (UDB), whose Native-led efforts to preserve land and culture helped secure protection of Bears Ears — has initiated efforts aimed at working with San Juan County officials to identify potential paths toward a more robust economic future. 

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Bears Ears in the News: National Monuments On Trial

Lawsuit and management plan updates:

  • Bears Ears, Grand Staircase lawsuits will stay in D.C. as judge rejects Trump administration motion to move them to Utah

  • Trump Loses Ground to Environmentalists in Utah

  • An update on Bears Ears management plans

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Bears Ears in the News: "Make It Monumental"

File under Delicious Irony: San Juan County has launched a splashy new campaign, “Make it Monumental,” which highlights the county’s spectacular public lands and the national monuments within its borders. This is the same county whose elected officials have loudly opposed the creation of Bears Ears National Monument and supported the efforts of Utah’s congressional delegation to abolish the Antiquities Act - the same law that allows presidents to establish (you guessed it) national monuments.

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Bears Ears in the News: Totems, Tit-for-Tats, and a Big Move for the BLM

Hello, Readers! After a sleepy start to summer on the Bears Ears beat, controversies are once again blazing like so many wildfires burning across the West. Here are the top stories from Bears Ears country:

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Take a Visual Journey through Bears Ears Country

The dramatic natural beauty of Bears Ears Country cannot be overstated.  Below are a number of interactive panoramas which allow you to explore the landscape.  Click on the image and use your mouse or your finger to navigate the panorama from any angle or perspective.

Enjoy!

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Bears Ears in the News: Big Numbers and a Ticking Clock

Today is the final day for the public to submit comments on the BLM's management plans for the Trump administration's much-reduced Bears Ears National Monument. Groups such as Utah Diné Bikéyah(UDB), a Native-led nonprofit whose advocacy for the protection of Bears Ears led to the creation of the original monument proposal by Native American tribes, has urged its supporters to participate. 

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Bears Ears in the News: Reckoning With History

Two weeks of updates for the price of one! Here's what you may have missed on the Bears Ears beat:

Curtis holds hearing to explain, hear input on bill - San Juan Record, 2/13/18

Utah Rep. John Curtis, who represents residents of the Bears Ears region, has gotten an earful from constituents and politicians on both sides of the aisle who either love or hate his "Bears Ears bill." (The bill, which would memorialize the reduction of the Bears Ears National Monument, is explained more fully here.) The venerable San Juan Record covered a community meeting in San Juan County in which Curtis at turns explained and defended his bill before admitting it was likely as good as dead.

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From A to Zinke: A Beginner's Guide to the Bears Ears Saga

One of the greatest challenges of this project has been trying to explain what our work is about to those unfamiliar with the story we have been following for well over two years. In this blog, and with our books, we are trying to create that space to provide context that is missing from many news stories and to humanize what can be complex and wonky issues. With that in mind, let's take a whirlwind tour of the Bears Ears cultural and political landscape.

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A Monumental Opportunity for Grassroots Economic Development

“The recreation economy is coming to San Juan County,” says Korenblat, who owns Western Spirit Cycling in Moab. “They can do all they want to try to stop it, but it’s already happening. What they do have the opportunity to do is to shape it and control it and turn it into what they want it to become.”

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San Juan County: A Road to Renewal

As with any place worth exploring, it is impossible to quantify the beauty of San Juan County’s landscapes, or the richness of its indigenous and Anglo cultures. But the debate over the designation of Bears Ears National Monument encompassed more than just the county’s ineffable qualities; it brought to the fore the county’s economic struggles, and how choices its leaders make in the near future could help or hinder its fortunes for years to come.

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Bears Ears: The Tribes' Next Steps

Tribal leaders fully recognize both the opportunity presented by Obama’s action and the political challenges confronting them. Zuni Councilman and Coalition co-chair Carleton Bowekaty says the tribes are prepared to surmount what may be considerable obstacles to success.

“There’s going to be a lot of roadblocks, there’s going to be a lot of issues, but we have plenty of knowledge, [and] we have longevity in mind,” Bowekaty says. “Our view is long range.”

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Letter to America - Reflections on Red Rock Country

The shock, confusion, anger, and grief felt and expressed by many Americans post-election was coupled (for some) with a realization of the essential need to reach across ideological and cultural divides to find common ground. The battle over Bears Ears illustrates the wrenching difficulties facing those who try to reconcile differences among groups with diametrically opposed views on many issues. In San Juan County, those differences are amplified by complex and oft-painful history laden with racism, religious persecution, and conflicts over land ownership and stewardship. 

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