The Bears Ears are two prominent buttes that rise high above Cedar Mesa in southeastern Utah. They are surrounded by a living cultural landscape of mountain peaks, verdant high plateaus, and roughhewn canyon country that is home to cliff dwellings, prehistoric villages, and rock art panels of ancestral Puebloan peoples. Located just south and east of Canyonlands National Park, this landscape is significant to all Americans and indispensable to tribal peoples of the Colorado Plateau who rely on these sacred lands as a place of subsistence, spirituality, healing, and contemplation.
Led by the Hopi, Zuni, Ute Mountain Ute, Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray, and Navajo, and supported by over 25 tribes across the Southwest, the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition formed in 2015 to urge the Obama administration to protect public lands in southeastern Utah as a Bears Ears National Monument. Their successful proposal marks the first tribally-driven national monument campaign in history and acknowledges that tribes—and all Americans—have a responsibility to preserve this world treasure. Learn more ›
The Bears Ears cultural landscape includes ancestral homelands of tribes across the Colorado Plateau. Tribes have deeply rooted ties to the place, which has nurtured, strengthened, and sustained them for millennia. Tribal people depend on these public lands to maintain their traditional livelihoods and cultural practices, such as hunting, gathering, and ceremonial uses.
In addition to unique attachments to the land, tribal leaders share the concerns of the broader American public: looting of cultural sites, careless visitors, oil and gas development, potash, uranium and tar sands mining, and irresponsible off-road vehicle use that can permanently damage the land.
Tribes have a unique legal and political relationship with the United States, outlined by the U.S. Constitution, treaties, court decisions, and federal statutes. Throughout the campaign to protect Bears Ears as a national monument, tribes worked with federal officials on a government-to-government level. Together, the tribes share a united vision for helping to manage the monument. The Trust stands behind the tribes in support of their vision. Learn more about our work with tribes ›
On December 28, 2016, President Obama created Bears Ears National Monument, but there is still work to be done, from defending the monument and the Antiquities Act from attacks in Congress and the executive branch to ensuring a real and meaningful role for Native peoples in managing the new monument. Urge your senators to help ›
The Bears Ears cultural landscape is home to a stunning diversity of landscapes. From high alpine peaks and forested plateaus to sinuous redrock canyons and gardens of sandstone monoliths, the Bears Ears is an unbroken natural tapestry.
The Bears Ears region is an untapped library of thousands of years of human history. Urge your senators to defend Bears Ears National Monument and the Antiquities Act of 1906, which allowed for its creation. Take action ›
Cedar Mesa, Comb Ridge, and the Abajo Mountains offer truly unparalled opportunities to hike into rugged canyons, see archaeological sites, and enjoy solitude. See for yourself why Bears Ears deserves protection ›
You have until November 15, 2018 to stand up for cultural resources in Bears Ears National Monument.
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The 2017 reduction of Bears Ears National Monument puts Chacoan great roads and great houses at risk of destruction.
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The Daneros uranium mine is within the ancestral lands of several tribes, including the Ute Mountain Ute, Hopi, and the Navajo Nation.
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