Letter to Utah Gov. Cox: Protect the Antiquities Act + Public Lands

Chris Schulte squeezing his way up Airwolf (V6). Photo by AAC member Dawn Kish

February 8, 2022

The Honorable Spencer Cox
Governor
State Capitol
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114

Dear Governor Cox, 

On behalf of our 1,000 members in the state of Utah, and our 25,000 members nationally, the American Alpine Club (AAC) is writing to express our immense concern with your office's hiring of a law firm for the purposes of litigating the protections afforded via national monument designation to both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante while simultaneously soliciting the Outdoor Retailer show to return to your state’s capitol. 

The AAC is a century-old, national non-profit organization that supports the climbing and human-powered outdoor recreation communities through education, community gatherings, stewardship, policy, advocacy, and scientific research. Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments are significant not only for our members who enjoy the climbing and other recreational opportunities afforded by these unique landscapes, but also for their extensive cultural and ecological values that have been cherished by Tribes such as the Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Hopi Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni, and Ute Tribe for time immemorial. It is for these reasons we advocated for the restoration of these monuments, following their reduction during the Trump Administration, and celebrated when the Biden-Harris Administration made the profoundly important decision to honor the voices of Indigenous communities, climbers, and conservationists by reinstating their protections.

Our advocacy over the years has been clear - we oppose any action aimed at weakening the efficacy of the Antiquities Act or any other bedrock environmental law that protects our nation’s lands and waters. With more than 100,000 Native American cultural sites, countless scientific and historical objects, and several thousand individual rock climbs that attract climbers from across the globe, we believe that the proper care and management of these objects accurately reflects the size of the monuments as designated by the Biden Administration.

More than that, these protections are in line with the Biden Administration’s America the Beautiful initiative, which aims to tackle the climate crises at home and abroad by conserving 30% of land and water by 2030. Ensuring these landscapes are protected helps our country address not only the climate and extinction crises, but it bolsters recreation-based economies which rely on public lands as the infrastructure for activities like climbing.

While we find it egregious that your office would consider filing a lawsuit against the Federal Government to remove protections from these sacred, wild, and recreation rich landscapes, we do not share this note as a boycott of the State of Utah or the return of the Outdoor Retailer to the Beehive state. Salt Lake City is home to one of the largest climbing communities in the country, and the state to that of some of our nation's most significant and historical climbing areas. Access to the outdoors attracts many of our members to live and work in Utah, and is certainly a reason amongst many in our community for bringing Outdoor Retailer back to the state. 

However, if your office moves forward with its intended litigation to erode protections afforded by the Antiquities Act to monuments in Utah (and potentially across the country), we will urge that the Outdoor Retailer show not return to UT, or boycott the show itself. We stand with our partners at The Conservation Alliance and Outdoor Alliance, who have already asked your office to respect our industry's values and the lands we cherish.

We urge you to take our request seriously and abandon your efforts to remove protections to Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. Instead, we welcome you to join the outdoor industry in creating a strong and vibrant future for the public lands and outdoor recreation economies across the American West, one that values the perspectives of tribal, outdoor, conservation, and local communities as well as the majority of Utahns and Americans.

Thank you, 

Jamie Logan, AAC Interim-CEO

AAC Policy Committee Members:

Peter Metcalf
Pete Ward
Rob Deconto
Graham Zimmerman
Katie Stahley
Nina Williams

CC:

Taylor Luneau, AAC Policy Manager
Amelia Howe, AAC Advocacy and Government Affairs Manager
The Honorable Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Department of Interior
Herve Sedky, CEO, Emerald
Lise Aangenbrug, Executive Director, Outdoor Industry Association
Adam Cramer, Executive Director, Outdoor Alliance
Shoren Brown, Interim Executive Director, The Conservation Alliance
President Stuart Adams, UT State Senate
Speaker Brad Wilson, UT State House

Reflections on the Bears Ears Restoration

A week ago today, the Biden-Harris Administration made the profoundly important decision to honor the voices of Indigenous communities, climbers, and conservationists by restoring protections to three national monuments including Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monuments. The American Alpine Club is thrilled about this action and grateful to our partners who led the charge to protect these important landscapes. We are particularly proud of our friends at the Access Fund, who on behalf of climbers, joined a lawsuit protesting the illegal reduction of Bears Ears and have feverishly lobbied Congress to restore protections to this important landscape. We are also grateful to the Bears-Ears Intertribal Coalition, who have invested innumerable hours of effort defending traditional values, ensuring that Indigenous knowledge is incorporated into future management decisions and ultimately protecting a sacred site significant to many Tribes such as the Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Hopi Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni, and Ute Tribe.

We join our partners today to celebrate their hard work and commend the administration’s commitment to conserving this unique ecological and cultural heritage.

As the first national monument designated at the request of the Tribes, this action is truly about honoring First Nations who have called this landscape home for time immemorial. “This monument designation, under the first Indigenous Secretary of Interior, signals the role that Tribes will play in the future management of federal public lands,” said AAC Board member and founder of Natives Outdoors Len Necefer. “It’s imperative that the climbing community take steps to build a productive relationship with Tribes to ensure that the collaboration between these communities that occurred on Bears Ears becomes the norm.”

PC: Taylor Luneau

Reflecting on his experience witnessing President Biden sign the Presidential Proclamation, Chris Winters, Executive Director of the Access Fund said, “We are absolutely elated that President Biden stood up to protect Bears Ears National Monument and conserve this national treasure. This is a huge win for Indigenous people in the greater fight for America’s public lands. This proclamation not only protects climbing and the vast cultural and scientific resources at Bears Ears, but it also helps to uphold the integrity of the Antiquities Act and protects all national monuments around the country. It also recognizes the importance of outdoor recreation in these places.”

Like so many of you, the staff here at the AAC share a deep connection to Indian Creek and the desert landscape of Southeastern Utah. Previously, our current Policy Manager - then graduate student - penned an article highlighting the illegal use of presidential authority to rescind protections for 85% of the original monument designation at Bears Ears. “It is truly a historic achievement for Tribes and climbers alike” said AAC Policy Manager, Taylor Luneau, in light of the restoration. “Not only are the vast climbing resources of Bears Ears once again protected, but the action contributes to broader conservation goals laid out in the America the Beautiful plan, which strives to conserve 30 percent of our land and water by 2030—an effort that is crucial to combatting the climate crisis and ensuring close to home nature for all Americans.” 

Much like completing a new route, a milestone of this nature is never reached alone. “This success points to the importance of civic engagement, partnerships, and the value of advocating for our shared landscapes,”  emphasized AAC CEO Mitsu Iwasaki. “Thousands of people activated to write letters and call their elected officials, to attend protests and rallies, and to document and share their unique experiences in places like Indian Creek. Now we see the true impact our collective actions can have.” 

PC: Taylor Luneau

“The Biden administration’s recently restored protections for one of America’s most iconic, wild, adventurous, antiquities rich, awe inspiring, and home to Indian Creek, ecosystems - Bears Ears, should be a day of celebration, relief, joy and vigilance,” said AAC Board member Peter Metcalf. “With time, Bears Ears will become as famous and cherished as Yellowstone or Bryce Canyon National parks. We at the AAC should be both most appreciative and proud. Though we have substantial reasons to be appreciative of the administration's brave restoration and proud of our work, we must all now be aware that without committed, focused vigilance, it could be lost again to the banal financial benefit of a few.” 

The AAC remains committed to advocating for the protection and stewardship of Bears Ears and all of our public lands. As a community of climbers, we must continue to steward this important landscape, educate ourselves on low impact recreation and maintain our vigilance during future management decisions for the world class rock climbing of Indian Creek and beyond. Importantly, we must continue to support Tribal leaders and center the voices of Indigenous communities who call this place home.

A Brief Update on Bears Ears

On July 26th the Bureau of Land Management released the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and proposed Monument Management Plans (MMPs) for Bears Ears National Monument. This document is 800 pages in length, and while we have yet to read the full document, the AAC believes that the shrinking of the Monument was an illegal move made by the administration. We believe the BLM should work to protect and conserve the whole monument that was protected in 2016. A management plan should not have been completed prior to the court ruling of the lawsuits that are currently in the federal courts system.

The NRDC, one of the organizations who chose to sue alongside the Hopi and Utah Diné Bikéyah tribes has written a brief update of the EIS information here. Several other tribes and environmental groups have also filed suit against the Trump Administration, many of them claiming that the reduction in the monument size was an abuse of Presidential power and an illegal application of the Antiquities Act of 1906.

Access Fund also agrees that the management plan “fails climbers”. In their latest update, AF announced that they are “evaluating options to appeal the BLM’s flawed plan to the Department of Interior” in the name of appropriate management for not only world class climbing areas, but also the cultural, scientific, and natural resources of the landscape. You can read the comments written by Access Fund, Friends of Indian Creek, and Salk Lake Climbers Alliance on the draft management plan here.

You may recall that the AAC, in conjunction with our partners at the Outdoor Alliance, submitted an Amicus Brief on the case last year. You can review our comments to the court here. You can also read the AAC’s stance on the fight for Bears Ears National Monument here, and be sure to keep following the policy blog for future updates and action alerts as they arise.

Next Interior secretary must show more respect for public lands

(Bonnie Jo Mount | The Washington Post) The Toadstool Hoodoos in Kanab, Utah, stand in an area that was removed from Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah in October 2018.

---

By: Stacey Bare / for the Salt Lake Tribune

Published: February 1, 2019

---

At the end of 2018, Americans stood up for their national monuments in a big way, submitting over half a million comments opposing destructive resource management plans for Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments. Loud and clear, the American people have spoken: We are fired up to keep America’s national monuments intact.

December’s resignation of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is a chance to reflect on a new interior secretary’s path forward. Plagued by scandal and ethics investigations, Zinke initiated a disastrous “review” of national monuments. The public spoke up then, too, with nearly 3 million comments supporting national monuments. Zinke and the Trump administration ignored them and stripped protections from nearly half of the original Grand Staircase- Escalante National Monument, and from 85 percent of Bears Ears— designated in response to an historic request from five sovereign tribes.

Then we learned — from a series of Interior Department emails — that despite the administration’s public stance, the end goal was for expanded mining and drilling within the original boundaries of these monuments.

Like Zinke, I served my country in uniform. Zinke provided lip service about the healing power of nature and public lands. When he made those statements, I agreed with him. Like millions of other Americans and hundreds of thousands of veterans, I’ve found great healing and community on our nation’s public lands.

Unfortunately, the DOI is all too willing to deny the public’s access and pollute the very open-air clinics — our public lands — that so many need to heal from the everyday challenges of life, let alone the traumas of war.

In 2017, 10 years after leaving Iraq as a U.S. soldier, I returned there to ski in Iraq’s only national park. The Iraqis I met were rightfully proud of their beginning steps in land conservation and were excited to share the landscape with me; they even questioned me about the future of America’s national parks given the rhetoric they had heard from our current president.

Our legacy of protected public lands, owned by all Americans, is indeed the envy of the world.

Monument designation was intended to forever protect Grand Staircase-Escalante’s treasures for the benefit of all Americans, including hikers, hunters, anglers and future generations. Instead, we find ourselves in 2019 battling for a monument that is growing southern Utah’s economies: From 2001 to 2015, the region experienced population growth of 13 percent, job growth of 24 percent and personal income growth of 32 percent.

Nationwide, our public lands support an $887 billion outdoor recreation economy, including more than 7.6 million jobs, many in rural communities.

The recently proposed management plan would open 700,000 acres of formerly protected land to mining and drilling, despite multiple pending legal challenges and a shameful lack of meaningful consultation with the tribes. When public lands are leased, it becomes illegal to hunt, fish, hike, ride a four-wheeler or climb on them. More than half of oil and gas leases on public lands sit idle, but all of a sudden, what was once a place to experience freedom is blocked from your use.

All of this should inform the next Interior secretary, whoever it may be. Ryan Zinke’s successor must do what he failed to: Respect science and listen to the millions of Americans — including veterans like me — who support permanent protection of our national monuments. The new secretary must take seriously his or her role as steward of our nation’s iconic lands and drop plans that threaten rural economies and plunder our collectively owned lands. These lands have already been set aside for a higher and better use, and their protections must be permanently reinstated.

Stacy Bare, Sandy, is an avid skier, climber, rafter and a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year. He served our nation in Iraq and found healing and a path home on our public lands.

Stacey was a Director for the American Alpine Club’s Policy Committee from 2015 - 2018 and provided instrumental guidance and leadership during the early stages of the Bears Ears fight. Stacey continues to advise the AAC as a close partner and to fight for public lands protection.

Bears Ears Opened to Mining and Energy Claims

Photo: BLM

On December 4th, President Donald Trump announced his intention to reduce the size of Bears Ears National Monument by more than 80% and Grand Staircase-Escalante by half. Prior to Obama’s designation of the Bears Ears Monument, climbers have been advocating for protection of this landscape-- for its cultural significance and for its incredible splitter cracks and breathtaking desert sunsets. Since Trump’s move to reduce the monument, climbers have been active in speaking out against this drastic and possibly illegal action through protests, letters and petitions. Now, several months after Trump’s proclamation, we are seeing the implications.

On February 2nd, 2018, a small provision in the proclamation to reduce Bears Ears went into effect that opened the lands outside the monument boundaries to new mining claims and energy development. This move threatens the roughly 40% of climbing areas and the Bears Ears landscape as a whole. In addition, the Bureau of Land Management is beginning its management planning process for the new, smaller monuments. This is all despite the ongoing lawsuits and legislative debates over the reductions of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, which we hope will restore the original national monument boundaries.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is moving forward prematurely with these monument management plans, and the American Alpine Club, along with its partners, has asked the agency to wait until the dust settles from the legal and legislative battles before planning and permitting the staking of mining claims. If the lawsuits succeed and the reductions are overturned, the BLM will have wasted time and resources on a costly management planning process.

Multiple bills regarding these national monuments have also been introduced in the House of Representatives, and are currently being debated in the House Committee on Natural Resources. The outcome of these lawsuits and legislation will likely alter the final boundaries of and management directives for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante.

Join us in asking the BLM to wait until the legal and legislative debates are over before beginning any monument management planning and permitting new mining claims and energy development in the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante areas. Visit the BLM comment page to share your thoughts about the future of these landscapes. For example:

I am a rock climber and a member of the American Alpine Club. The Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante regions hold great value to our community. I am concerned by the possibility of new mining and energy development in these special places. As climbers, we ask that the Bureau of Land Management keep these areas closed to new claims, and wait to begin the management planning process until the lawsuits and legislative debates over these monuments are resolved. These areas deserve protection and a management plan that prioritizes sustainable recreation. Thank you for your consideration.

Stay tuned for more updates on Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments.

Secretary Zinke Releases Interim Report on Bears Ears

June 12, 2017: This afternoon, Secretary Zinke released his interim report on Bears Ears National Monument. Despite overwhelming public support to keep Bears Ears as designated, his recommendations include a reduction to the size of the monument. 

Read our joint statement with Outdoor Alliance here.

Bears Ears National Monument Postcard Writing Toolkit

Postcard by AAC Content Coordinator Emma Longcope

The official public comment period on Bears Ears started May 12 and has been extended. It now closes on July 10. 

The Department of the Interior is, for the first time ever, asking the public to officially weigh in on the national monuments under review, per President Trump's April 26, 2017 Executive Order. We only have until July 10 to provide input during this public comment period.

Now more than ever we need your voice to help protect Bears Ears National Monument. Find out more about the Bears Ears issue here and read AAC member John Climaco's opinion piece about it here. You can also learn more by reading about our recent trip to D.C. to Climb the Hill. 

Why a postcard? 

The Department of the Interior accepts comments both online and by mail. Adding your name to a petition or online comment chain is important. A unique and tangible note, however, carries extra weight with elected officials. 

Click on the button below to use our pre-addressed postcard template that you can print out and send to the Department of Interior. (Tip: print double-sided with card stock paper.)

Writing Tips:

Make it personal: Share your story about why you love Bears Ears National Monument.

Provide a call to action: Ask the Department of Interior to protect Bears Ears National Monument.

Use some of the suggested messages below or craft your own. Feel free to edit these messages and add your voice.

-The Bears Ears region in southeastern Utah is one of the greatest climbing destinations in the U.S. I love to climb in the Bears Ears area because.... 

-I support the Bears Ears National Monument because it protects climbing and significant Native American cultural sites.

-The Antiquities Act is a valuable tool for protecting America's heritage.

-Do not rescind or reduce Bears Ears National Monument.

---

Our template includes the Department of the Interior's address, but if you're making your own, address it to: 

Monument Review, MS-1530
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 S Street NW
Washington, DC 20240

---

Time is running out! No time for a postcard?

You can:

• Use the climbers’ letter writing tool.

• Submit comments online at http://www.regulations.gov by entering “DOI-2017-0002” in the Search bar and clicking “Search.”

• Call the Department of the Interior with any questions: Randal Bowman, 202-208-1906.

• Tweet at Secretary Ryan Zinke: @SecretaryZinke.

---

Thank you for helping to preserve this wonderful place! We're stronger together.

---

Artwork: AAC staff member Emma Longcope

Secretary Zinke Visits Utah to Review Bears Ears National Monument

Photo: AAC member Jason Gebauer

Secretary Zinke arrived in southeastern Utah on May 7th to assess Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. His visit is the result of President Trump’s April 26, 2017 Executive Order that directs the Department of Interior to review the Antiquities Act and select national monuments designated over the last 21 years.

Bears Ears National Monument holds incredible significance to the climbing community. It is home to world-class climbing areas like Indian Creek and Valley of the Gods, and it is the first national monument proclamation that acknowledges the importance of rock climbing. 

Bears Ears was listed as a priority under Trump’s Executive Order, and an initial report is due by June 10, 2017. Zinke intends to review the process by which Bears Ears was designated a national monument, in order to determine if it complied with the law. If this review is comprehensive and transparent, Access Fund, American Alpine Club and Outdoor Alliance believe it will find that the monument, in its entirety, is justified. The previous administration spent years conducting a thorough assessment of the Bears Ears region that included a wide spectrum of stakeholders—including climbers—and this process resulted in a well-substantiated national monument boundary that protects threatened cultural resources and recreation areas.

We are pleased that Secretary Zinke has agreed to meet with the Inter-tribal Coalition. The coalition of Native American Tribes is an important stakeholder group that will stress the importance of protecting the entire Bears Ears region, as well as describe their role in the multi-year effort to protect the sensitive landscape. We encourage Secretary Zinke to eventually meet with all stakeholder groups, including the climbing community, to ensure a comprehensive review. Access Fund has reached out to Secretary Zinke to offer a private tour of Indian Creek in order to share the climbing community’s perspective on the region’s recreation resources. Climbers will also meet with his staff next week during Climb the Hill to discuss a range of public land issues including Bears Ears.

Access Fund, American Alpine Club, and Outdoor Alliance will continue to interface with the Department of Interior throughout the national monument review process. The Department of Interior is only accepting comments on Bears Ears National Monument for 15 days after they publish their official notice shortly, and we will send an action alert to mobilize climbers.  

Other national monuments under review that contain climbing areas are San Gabriel Mountains and Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monuments. We will keep the climbing community posted on the national monument review process, but in the meantime please send Secretary Zinke comments regarding the exceptional value of Bears Ears National Monument.

AAC Statement on President Trump’s Executive Order for a Review of Existing National Monument Designations under the Antiquities Act

Photo: AAC member Jason Gebauer

AAC Statement on President Trump’s Executive Order for a Review of Existing National Monument Designations under the Antiquities Act

April 26, 2017: This morning President Trump signed an executive order instructing the Interior Department to review all national monuments designated under the Antiquities Act since 1996. An interim report will be concluded within 45 days and a final report within 120 days of the order.

The American Alpine Club is concerned by how this order will impact the future of critical climbing resources, our public lands and the Antiquities Act—the conservation tool used for more than 100 years to safeguard our country’s important archaeological, historic and scientific resources on public lands. 

Under this review will be the newly designated Bears Ears National Monument—the first national monument to recognize rock climbing as a valued activity in its proclamation. In addition to its spectacular climbing areas, Bears Ears includes more than 100,000 Native American cultural sites. “The creation of Bear Ears National Monument—with its iconic desert climbing, wild canyons and Native American artifacts—represents the best, highest value, and most sustainable use possible of these iconic and spectacular landscapes which are on par with Canyonlands, Arches and Yellowstone,” says AAC board policy member Peter Metcalf. “We must be fearless in communicating unambiguously to the president about our absolute commitment to our country’s monuments, especially Bears Ears.”  

Just this week, the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) released its new data: The outdoor recreation economy generates over $887 billion in consumer spending and supports 7.6 million American jobs. The U.S. Department of the Interior reports that visits to our national parks added $35 billion to the U.S. economy in 2016 alone. As OIA’s Executive Director Amy Roberts says, “Monuments, many of which have become national parks, have created economic prosperity and jobs in local communities for decades. The vast majority of Americans value their national parks and monuments and want these lands protected.”

AAC Policy Director Maria Povec is currently in D.C. with the Outdoor Industry Association to educate elected leaders about the importance of public lands to the climbing community and the benefits of the outdoor recreation economy. In early May, the AAC will be back in D.C. with the Access Fund to “Climb the Hill” and advocate for places we climb, land management agencies and policies that support outdoor recreation. As Metcalf says, “We best ensure our continued privilege to climb, in part, by educating others about the integral role our public lands play in the vibrancy of our economy, our cultural history, bio-diversity, and the quality of our lives.”

Executive Power over National Monuments: An AAC Member and natural resource law Scholar weighs in on the future of Bears Ears

Photo by Taylor Luneau

Taylor Luneau, AAC member & Natural Resource Law Scholar 

As happens to many climbers on their first trip to Indian Creek, I got spanked! The splitter sandstone was relentless and the grades fleeting. With the absence of face features, it was a whole new ball game for a climber born and raised on northeast schist and granite. However, within a matter of days, the climbing style grew on me and by the end of my first week I was floating up Incredible and Generic Hand Crack, stuffing in a #2 cam every ten feet or so. The trip was a formative one and I was hooked.

Leaving our slice of Heaven was made easier only with the knowledge that the Creek would always be there, waiting for me, nestled there in the canyons with desert washes and endless red rock walls. And, as many did on December 28th, 2016, I celebrated after President Obama issued a Presidential Proclamation establishing Bears Ears National Monument—a 1.35 million acre area area in San Juan County, Utah that encompasses Indian Creek, as well as the Valley of the Gods and Arch Canyon. This Presidential Proclamation is the first to recognize rock climbing as a valued activity and to ensure it as a priority in the management plan. It conserves these climbing meccas for future generations and for my chance of reunion. Or so I thought.

Today, the future of the Bears Ears is uncertain. Utah’s political leadership has formally requested that the President rescind Bears Ears National Monument through a joint resolution. As a legal scholar, I began to investigate if President Trump could actually lawfully abolish the designation of Bears Ears’ national monument status.

The short answer is NO!

But that answer is riddled with caveats and requires an understanding of The Antiquities Act, the law that enables the President to designate National Monuments.

The Antiquities Act of 1906

The Antiquities Act has been used to create more than 100 national monuments and protect 80 million acres of federal land since it was passed in 1906 (1). While the Antiquities Act gives the President authority to declare national monuments, it’s silent about the abolishment of a national monument. The core provisions of the Antiquities Act:

1) Give the President the authority to declare historic landmarks, prehistoric structures and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be National Monuments.

2) Allow that the amount of land reserved must not exceed the smallest area necessary for its proper management. (2)

The Antiquities Act is clear about the President’s authority to create national monuments, but does the President have the authority to reverse a national monument designation?

In 1938, President Roosevelt considered abolishing the Castle Pickney National Monument in South Carolina. However, his Attorney General, Homer Cummings, said the President had no such authority because the law did not authorize the President to abolish national monuments (3). As a result, President Roosevelt did not change the status of the monument. While Roosevelt could not undo Pickney National Monument, it was eventually abolished by Congress in 1956 (4). Although Cummings advice was not a judicial ruling, his statement was the only legal authority to provide a statutory interpretation (5). Cumming's legal analysis was challenged for the first time ever this past week by conservative legal scholars at the American Enterprise Institute but their argument raises constitutional issues and overreach by the Executive Office. 

Although Presidents do not have the authority to abolish national monuments, they have altered monument sizes in order to meet the smallest area compatible criteria. (6) For example, Woodrow Wilson reduced the size of Mount Olympus National Monument in 1915. (7)

If President Trump attempts a full revocation of Bears Ears National Monument, litigation will follow. While courts would likely deny an Executive Order to fully repeal Bears Ears, the President may attempt to alter the size of the monument to meet the smallest area compatible to protect the cultural resources. Such an attempt would require the President to establish that the Monument was designated unnecessarily large for the protection of the scientific, historic or archeological objects of interest-- a fact that would likely be challenged by the Native American Tribes who claim ancestral ties to the landscape. Another consideration here is that The Federal Land Policy Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) bars the Secretary of the Interior from altering the boundaries of monuments on BLM land so any Executive Order that attempts to direct the Secretary to make adjustments would not be legal (8). 

Congressional Discretion & Implications for Bears Ears National Monument

While the President does not have legal authority to undo a national monument, Congress does. Congress has broad discretion over national monuments primarily because of the Constitution’s Property Clause, which provides Congress the power to make decisions about public lands in the United States. Therefore, Congress does have the constitutional authority to create, modify, and abolish national monuments and it has exercised each of these powers in the past. (9)

What now?

The Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, in cooperation with the Bears Ears Commission, will continue to work together to create and implement a management plan for the new national monument. Recreation, conservation and tribal groups will be watching closely as the Trump administration and Congress sets its public lands priorities.

In the meantime, as climbers, we must continue to speak up together about why public lands matter and why we value the Bears Ears area in particular. Let’s push back against efforts to weaken federal land protections and undermine conservation designations. We need to vigilantly remind our legislators that we want to keep our public lands in public hands.

Finally, I encourage you all to continue to support groups like the American Alpine Club and Access Fund that persistently look out for the preservation of our climbing landscapes. I’ll be there with you, because the indigenous peoples, the land, water, and wildlife of the Bears Ears region deserve this monument designation. And … I want a second chance at sending Anunnaki in the Creek.

---

Taylor Luneau, American Alpine Club Member

Dual Masters Candidate, 2018: Master of Environmental Law and Policy, Vermont Law School and Master of Science in Natural Resources, University of Vermont

---

ENDNOTES

[1] Coggins, Wilkinson, Leshy, Fischman, Federal Public Land and Resources Law, p. 394, 7th Ed., Foundation Press, 2014.

[2] Id.

[3] 39 Op. Att’y Gen. 185, 187 (1938).

[4] Vincent, Carol Hardy, National Monuments and the Antiquities Act, Congressional Research Service, p. 2, 2017.

[5] Id.

[6] Antiquities Act 1906-2006, National Parks Service Archeology Program, https://www.nps.gov/archeology/sites/antiquities/MonumentsList.htm (Last updated Dec. 28, 2016).

[7] Id.

[8] Federal Land Policy Management Act of 1976, https://www.blm.gov/or/regulations/files/FLPMA.pdf

[9] U.S. Const. art. IV, §3, cl. 2.

Standing Up for Indian Creek

John Climaco Climbing in Southeast Utah in the 1980s.

By AAC member John Climaco

Canyonlands first captured me in the spring of 1984 as a skinny, 16-year-old Ohio boy. Years earlier I’d stumbled across a 1966 issue of National Geographic covering the first ascent of the Titan. Entranced by this wild adventure, I stole the only copy from our school library just to have it to myself. I devoured every story of the hard-living desert climbing pioneers I could, but nothing I’d read prepared me for the descent into Indian Creek and the desert of my dreams on my first time. No words could possibly capture the quiet, and the freedom.

In those days, you could have Indian Creek all to yourself on a spring weekend. The Anasazi art and the even more ancient sandstone towers were your silent and only companions. It was a place where you were free to create your own adventures and be the outlaw of your youthful imaginings. Looking back, it recently dawned on me that the very thing which seduced me about the desert may be precisely what imperils it. As the vast emptiness of the desert begets a feeling of endless freedom, it is easy to lapse into a comforting sense of the timelessness of the landscape. It is too easy to let that freedom lull us into assuming that what was here yesterday to be enjoyed today will still be there for us tomorrow.

The fact is that while we see these lands as our birthright, others see them as a vast piggy bank. Whether it was silver to fund a booming new nation, uranium to fuel the cold war or petroleum to fill our tanks, these lands have always held the promise of riches far more bankable than the ephemeral wealth we build there. Only a tiny portion of our public lands are entirely secured from those who wish to tap, mine or drill for personal profit. Would anyone seeking those rewards see our climbing community as a legitimate constituency to be respected and accounted for in use planning and public lands access? Maybe not a generation ago, but things are changing.

Like the echoes of pitons being driven into sandstone, the outlaw era of climbing is gone. Today, climbing is a mainstream sport. The power of our collective voice has grown and so has our capacity to give back to the lands that have given us so much. In speaking together, we have made a significant difference in communicating the value of these lands. The recent Bears Ears National Monument proclamation was the first ever presidential proclamation to list rock climbing as an acceptable and appropriate activity. We spoke up together and we were heard.

Unfortunately, efforts are already underway to dismantle Bears Ears National Monument. The Utah legislature recently passed a resolution, HCR 11, asking the Trump administration to rescind Bears Ears National Monument. Undoing the monument would be unprecedented and would put our other national treasures at risk.

A call to your congressman today will take less time than racking up for tomorrow’s adventures. Thousands of such calls, mainly by hunters and fishermen, recently led Representative Chaffetz (R – UT) to withdraw his disastrous bill which would have allowed a massive transfer of public lands into corporate ownership. If each of us made a single call to protect Indian Creek and the surrounding Bear’s Ears National Monument, could we secure it forever? I’d like to think so.

A few years ago, on yet another climbing and exploring trip from my home in Northern Utah, I saw a sight so incongruous with my sense of the desert landscape I had to stop the car and stare: a drilling rig tapping away yards from the entrance to Canyonlands National Park. I gawked at its gravel containment platform and wondered what law could ever permit this eyesore? Who will clean it up? Was anyone out there who cared enough to do something about it? 

Finally, it struck me: I was.

John Climaco today with his children

----------------------           

Here's How You Can Take Action:

It is imperative that we communicate our stance on public land policy to our elected representatives. Contact of your federal representatives by calling the Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected.

Can’t remember who your representatives are? Look them up here:  

U.S. Senate: https://www.senate.gov/ 

House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/representatives/

And if picking up the phone terrifies you, consider writing an Op-ed or Letter to the Editor. Not sure where to start? Check out this great resource from our partners at Outdoor Alliance.

----------

For some legal background on the future of Bears Ears, check out AAC Member Taylor Luneau's article Executive Power Over National Monuments

Protect Bears Ears National Monument

Photo: Emma Longcope 

Southeast Utah is one of the most revered climbing destinations in the United States, and climbers have been strong and influential advocates for its protection. Our collective efforts paid off when on December 28, 2016, President Obama declared the region a national monument and listed climbing in the proclamation.

However, efforts are underway to dismantle the newly designated Bears Ears National Monument. In the upcoming weeks, newly appointed Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke (former Montana Congressman) will set his priorities for public lands. He will be in a position to influence President Trump's decision on whether or not to rescind Bears Ears National Monument.

Please help us speak up for Bears Ears! We need as many climbers as possible to urge Zinke to protect the national monument. The easy letter writing tool has content you can use and as always, we love when you add your own voice from a climber's perspective.

TOGETHER WE'RE STRONGER.
 

We joined our partners at Access Fund, Outdoor Alliance, Outdoor Industry Association, Friends of Indian Creek, and Salt Lake Climbers Alliance to ask Secretary-designee Ryan Zinke to protect Bears Ears National Monument and the Antiquities Act as a tool to protect public lands.

Read our letter below:

2016 Conservation and Advocacy Recap

It’s a wrap! 2016 was a strong year for the AAC. As we turn off the lights at the Clubhouse for the holiday break, we have a lot to celebrate. In 2016, we ramped up our efforts in protecting healthy climbing landscapes and advancing climber competency. Here are a few highlights on the conservation and public policy side:

AAC on Capitol Hill:
In the last several weeks, two bills AAC lobbied on were signed into law. Our partners at the Outdoor Industry Association have reached out to let us know that AAC’s lobby day last February made a difference in the passage of the REC Act and the National Park Service Centennial Act. More about these pieces of legislation:

• REC Act: Recreation’s Economic Contributions (REC) Act directs the Bureau of Economic Analysis to quantify how much the outdoor industry contributes to job creation and consumer spending. We anticipate the outcome of the analysis will further justify the importance of outdoor recreation and keeping public lands public.

• Centennial Act: The Centennial Act will provide greater funding for our national parks and will leverage philanthropic support to sustain the parks we love for the next one hundred years. 

“Climbers have a vested interest in what happens in D.C., and showing up to make our voice heard is key to the future of the sport. By working together, with the industry and partner organizations, we are stronger as a community.
–AAC Policy Committee Member, Brad Brooks”

The Walker Order:
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell released her Secretary’s Order—called the “Walker order” in memory of past AAC President Doug Walker. The Order is an effort to decrease barriers for disadvantaged youth to access public lands and waters through expediting the permit process. Secretary Jewell first announced the Walker Order at the AAC Annual Benefit Dinner in D.C. February, 2016.

Protecting Bears Ears:
Southeast Utah contains some of the best climbing in the country—Indian Creek, Lockhart Basin, Arch Canyon, Comb Ridge, Valley of the Gods and plenty yet to be discovered. Home to more than 100,000 cultural and archaeological sites, the Bears Ears area is also the most significant unprotected archeological area in the country. Together with Access Fund and Outdoor Alliance, we rallied climbers to send letters to the Obama administration, encouraging protection of climbing and Native American cultural resources. We delivered an analysis of the letters to policymakers. AAC CEO Phil Powers, Board President Matt Culberson and Policy Committee member Peter Metcalf co-authored a letter (CEQ) in support of the Monument.

AAC Conservation Grants & Awards:
2016 saw an increase in the amount of funding we awarded to our conservation grant recipients:

• Cornerstone Conservation Grant: In 2016, AAC awarded a Cornerstone grant to 13 projects across the country. Learn about those projects here.

• Research Grants: In 2016, we more than doubled our research grants program. Check out the research projects we support.

• David Brower Award: AAC selected Kris Tompkins to receive the 2017 David Brower Award.

Check out our education page to learn more about how we're increasing climber competency as well as conserving our resources. A huge thanks to all our members, partners, and supporters who make these accomplishments possible! 

2016 D.C. Lobby Day

In February 2016, a group of board members, partners and AAC member Conrad Anker, climbed Capitol Hill to talk with policymakers and advocate for the places we climb. We found that there is a high regard among many of our elected officials and their staffs—as well as from agency representatives—about the AAC and its members. We focused on the following issues:

• Land Water Conservation Fund: A bipartisan effort to protect natural treasures and outdoor recreation. For more than 50 years, LWCF has protected  5 million acres of land and supported more than 41,000 state and local park projects. We want to ensure LWCF is permanently reauthorized and fully funded in the long-term.

• Centennial Act: An effort to address critical maintenance and improvement projects in our national parks as the National Park Service prepares to celebrate its centennial next year. We want to see a bipartisan bill that builds on recent funding increases and ensures our climbing landscapes remain healthy and supported for the next 100 years.

• Recreation Economic Contribution Act (Rec Act): A bill that would require the government to officially measure the impact of outdoor recreation on the U.S. economy. We believe that the Rec Act will raise the policy profile of the outdoor community and emphasize the importance of protecting public lands.

• Bears Ears: An effort to permanently protect valuable climbing areas in southeastern Utah (includes Indian Creek, Valley of the Gods and Lockhart Basin to name a few). Whether protection is done through a national monument designation or through legislation, we are working to ensure that rock climbing is acknowledged as an acceptable activity.

• Director’s Order 41: A National Park Service order that states that climbing is a legitimate activity in Wilderness, and that fixed anchors are necessary for climbing. We are working to ensure this precedent will also be adopted by other agencies including the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.

“Meeting with staffers, leaders and decision makers on the hill makes a difference. If we don’t, who will? I’ve seen time and again where the simple act of spending time talking about what you are passionate about makes a difference.”

— Paul Gagner, former AAC Board Member

A Shared Love for Southeast Utah

May 23rd, 2016: Climbers and tribal representatives gathered together to discuss the future management of southeast Utah. Photocredit: EcoFlight 

The climbing in southeast Utah is some of the best in the country, beckoning rock climbers from around the world. It tests our physical and mental boundaries and provides adventure, fulfillment and personal growth. The Bears Ears area of southeast Utah is particularly important. It’s a 1.9-million-acre region north of the San Juan River and east of the Colorado River that includes Native American archeological and cultural sites and exceptional climbing such as Indian Creek, Lockhart Basin, Arch Canyon, Comb Ridge, and Valley of the Gods.

Climbers aren’t the only ones with a profound love of southeast Utah. Its sacredness runs deep. Home to more than 100,000 cultural and archaeological sites, the Bears Ears area is the most significant unprotected archeological area in the country. Tribal leaders and medicine people continue to conduct ceremonies, collect herbs for medicinal purposes, and practice healing rituals there. In a recent meeting with representatives from the Bears-Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, the AAC and Access Fund had the opportunity to connect with them over our shared love and respect for the land.

These treasures—climbing areas and spiritual sites—may be at risk. With two land management proposals on the table, the stakes are complicated. Congressmen Bishop and Chaffetz’s Public Lands Initiative (PLI) could—among other things—open the land to resource extraction. Not good for the tribes or for climbers. Here’s where it gets tricky: if instead, the Bears Ears area becomes a national monument, cultural resources will be protected, but it’s possible that there could be new restrictions on recreational uses. We’re working with the Access Fund and the Inter-Tribal Coalition to keep climbing open in the Bears Ears region while ensuring much-needed protections for cultural resources. 

Partnering with local Native American tribes is critical in protecting the breathtaking beauty of the Bears Ears area and ensuring that we can continue to enjoy its world-class climbing. On May 23rd, AAC and Access Fund joined with representative from the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition to discuss the proposed monument and do a fly-over with EcoFlight. We spoke about how respectful climbing practices are compatible with natural and cultural resource protection and shared information about the ways in which climbers serve as stewards of public lands. Tribal representatives explained their grave concerns about resource extraction, the proposed PLI and emphasized the lands’ sacredness. We shared our report on a joint AAC/Access Fund letter writing campaign to President Obama which captures how much climbers value southeast Utah. They were impressed and encouraged to hear that 1,135 climbers wrote in response to our call to action.

It is clear that climbers and the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition share similar feelings about this area: both groups have reverence for the land and want it to be protected. We don’t support resource extraction in places with such extraordinary cultural and recreation value as Bears Ears. As policy decisions unfold, the AAC and Access Fund will continue to do everything we can to ensure that land management policies protect Native American cultural and archaeological sites while recognizing climbing as an appropriate activity in southeast Utah. 

Climbers Speak up to Protect Climbing in Southeast Utah

Can you imagine the splitter cracks of Indian Creek, the stunning towers of Valley of the Gods, and the sandstone sculptures of Arch Canyon surrounded by oil rigs or off limits to climbers?

Right now, two initiatives are under consideration that may impact access to Indian Creek, Castle Valley, Fischer Towers, San Rafael Swell, Valley of the Gods, Comb Ridge, and countless remote climbing objectives both known and yet to be discovered.

1. The Public Lands Initiative (PLI) outlines an extensive plan to manage state and federal lands in southeastern Utah. It threatens designated Wilderness, supports the transfer of federal land to the state, and for the majority of the lands in question it prioritizes resource extraction over both recreation and conservation.

2. Unhappy with the PLI, an Inter-Tribal Coalition proposed the Bears Ears National Monument to the Obama administration, with a focus on preserving Native American traditional values. If the President proclaims Bears Ears National Monument, the climbing community needs to ensure that the proclamation acknowledges and protects the world-class climbing in the area along with the other important values in the Bears Ears region.

Together, the American Alpine Club and Access Fund rallied climbers everywhere to protect this area. Climbers shared their experiences in southeastern Utah so that as these initiatives are considered, it is clear that outdoor recreation is important and needs to be protected.

We received 1,135 thoughtful letters about the importance of protecting climbing southeast Utah. Eight AAC and AF staff read every single letter. We are thrilled with what came over the wire. Our team put together a report based on your letters that we shared with policymakers and partners in Washington, DC. The response we got in DC proves again that your voice matters and makes a difference.