Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has recommended that the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument be reduced. In addition, he has re-opened the public comment period the monument until mid-July. He will also continue to review the monument during that period.
E&E News reports that Zinke submitted his interim report on Bears Ears to President Trump on Saturday. Along with his recommendation that the monument’s size be reduced, he has also re-opened the public comment period on the monument.
“Certainly, rescinding the monument was an option, but looking at it, there are some antiquities within the monument that I think deserve to be protected,” he said.
In particular, Zinke pointed to the twin buttes from which Bears Ears draws its name, as well as areas of “high-density dwellings and cultural artifacts” and land in the monument’s northern end, near the site known as Newspaper Rock.
“There is no acreage attached to it because we’re not at that point of drawing specific lines,” he said in response to inquiries about the amount of acreage that could be cut from the monument.
He later added: “It’s a little premature to throw out acreage, but if you look at the Bears Ears as a whole, there’s a lot more drop-dead gorgeous land than there is historic landmarks, historic structures and other objects.”
Zinke’s preliminary recommendations also indicate he will seek congressional action on the Bears Ears site, asking lawmakers to establish co-management of the site with tribal nations as well as to protect some portions of the monument as national recreation or conservation areas.
