'We'll see the battle lines': Trump faced by Native American alliance over Bears Ears

On Monday, Donald Trump will visit Salt Lake City. He is expected to formally announce plans to substantially shrink two Utah national monuments: Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears.


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A review of national monuments was conducted by the interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, who recommended boundary changes to 10 such areas. In seeking to open up more land for development and extractive industries, Trump has the support of Utah’s all-Republican congressional delegation.

Orrin Hatch, the senator who invited Trump to Utah, said in a video statement the “outcome” the president will announce “strikes an excellent balance where everybody wins”.

Thousands of demonstrators, however, gathered at the state capitol on Saturday in a show of solidarity with Native American tribes that say the move against Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante is nothing less than a “monumental mistake”.

A coalition of five Utah tribes with ties to the land – the Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute, Ute Indian Tribe, Hopi and the Pueblo of Zuni – has vowed to oppose any shrinkage of the national monument. Before the formation of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, in 2015, the tribes had never come together. Their leaders say legal action is likely if Trump announces a reduction.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/04/native-american-alliance-bears-ears-trump