Sportsmen for Fish & Wildlife (SFW) strongly opposes the proposed creation of the 1.9 million-acre Bears Ears Monument in southeastern Utah. We recognize the proposed monument as a serious threat to Utahns’ and the native people of the region’s way of life and ability to live and pursue traditions that have been enjoyed by their ancestors for centuries.
SFW fears that this monument would take control and management of the land from locals and natives, who use it everyday and rely on it for their livelihood, and turn it over to the federal government thereby prohibiting the gathering of food, hunting, wood cutting and other important activities.
SFW feels that such an expansive designation would have negative affects on the wildlife and habitat that is critical to big game survival in the region. The creation of a national monument would severely threaten the expansion of wildlife and rehabilitation of healthy habitat that sportsmen and the state of Utah have invested millions of dollars building in recent decades.
SFW agrees with the beliefs of many members of the Hopi, Navaho and Ute Indian Tribes of San Juan County, who live adjacent to the Bears Ears, that a monument designation would put the Bears Ears at greater risk than ever before and that designating a monument under the Antiquities Act as a means of protecting archaeological and sacred sites of southeastern Utah is wrong.
SFW’s opposition to the proposed Bears Ears Monument is shared by the vast majority of Utah residents, according to a recent Dan Jones & Associates poll conducted for UtahPolicy.com, which found that only 17 percent of Utahns are in favor of President Obama creating the monument.
SFW calls on U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewel and President Barack Obama to take these points into serious consideration. We are hopeful that President Obama will show restraint and forego taking Executive Action to create another monument in the region.
Sign the online petition to let the White House know you are also opposed to a new monument.
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