The Bear’s Ears

Theodore Roosevelt created the Antiquities Act specifically to protect Mesa Verde and other ancient Puebloan ruins. Some of this country’s most precious cultural resources, they were being pillaged and destroyed by pothunters, way back in 1906.

Roosevelt, a Republican, was a true conservative, unlike many of the people who go by that appellation these days. He believed in CONSERVING our natural and cultural resources so that all Americans could enjoy them, not just a few people who wished to profit by taking from these lands.

One of the greatest tools ever created to protect our national heritage, Presidents have safeguarded national treasures by using the Antiquities Act countless times since. President Obama used it to create the Bear’s Ears National Monument shortly before leaving office.

A coalition of five Native American tribes recommended and promoted this new National Monument. They consider this land sacred. It is one of my favorite places in Utah.

This area is exactly the kind of place the Antiquities Act was created to protect. Cedar Mesa alone has over 56,000 archeological sites. That’s right, 56 THOUSAND! That’s more than any other National Park or Monument already in existence. And that’s only one part of the Bear’s Ears. As you hike these canyons, you walk with the ghosts of those who have been there before us, Everywhere you look you find ruins, petroglyphs and pictographs. It’s where I learned to love the Colorado Plateau.

This new monument is under attack. The Utah Legislature is on the fast track to try to convince Washington to find a way to overturn the proclamation.  We need to fight to keep this sacred place safe.

I would show you more pretty pictures to convince you, but the Coalition of tribes that promoted saving the Bear’s Ears can show it better than I. So check out their site, http://bearsearscoalition.org. Help defend this precious land.

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